When power is a pain: Nyapin ‘wired’ to danger

Shonaam TABRI DADA

Nyapin Power House 

NYAPIN, Mar 18: Development and improvement in new technologies to generate electricity came as a boon to human kind. Not for Nyapin, a circle in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kurung Kumey district under Arunachal West parliamentary constituency.

The place has electricity. But more than lighting up, it has become a cause of concern for the people as well as the Power department employees.

Though the remotest area of the district has electricity, villagers dread the killer tag that the power lines have earned over the years. Too many domestic animals and humans – adults and minors – have perished due to electrocution.

From a small tehsil in 1953, Nyapin has come a long way. Its location or village code is 265353.

According to Census 2011, Nyapin has a total population of 1,243. There are about 261 houses in Nyapin HQ village. Sangram is the nearest town approximately 24 km away.

The establishment of a powerhouse generating electricity from a small generator had promised to bail the place out of darkness two decades ago. But power to the people there has come at a price.

Despite complaints from locals and pleas from the officials, the government has failed to build a wall around the Nyapin powerhouse till date. Only a bamboo fence separates safety from danger.

The powerhouse has no storage room for machines dumped here and there. A single operator appears to have an easy job, but he virtually has to go through hell plugging the naked wire in and out from the main power generator.

“Generation of power via naked wire is in the hands of the operator, hands that flirt with danger all the time. And less said about the boundary wall, the better,” Tarh Tang, a student of the village, said.

While the minister from the area is said to be aloof, officers and engineers are often not found during office hours as there is no office for them. “We cannot really blame them. How can anyone work when there is no accommodation?” a villager said.

In June 2014, Tadar Royee a w/c worker of the Power department lost his life on duty. Witnesses said he had no proper gear such as ladder, helmet and latex gloves when the incident occurred.

Locals said Royee, who left behind two widows and 11 children, was a victim of the department’s negligence. There have been quite a few accidents subsequently.

The villagers wonder how many more lives will it take for the government to take note of their concern.