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Powercuts during WC: ASEB plays spoilsport

By Staff reporter

GUWAHATI, June 13 � The South African edition of the ongoing soccer World Cup that has caught the frenzy of fans across the globe, finds a dampened spirit in capital city, thanks to the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) which time has decided to play a spoilsport.

Frequent load shedding by the ASEB, especially during the match time has sparked a sense of resentment amongst the football-crazy consumers in and around the Guwahati city.

What is more worrying for the fans is the fact that the scenario, according to the Board, is expected to remain the same for the next week, at least.

�It could not have been timed worst,� rued Tridib Kalita, who missed the England-USA match on Saturday midnight due to snapping of power connection.

Tridib, an official of a leading telecom company, said, �The next day being Sunday, I had planned to watch the match ( 12 midnight) along with my friends at Christianbasti but the concerned authority snapped the connection for over an hour.�

�Already the heat was telling on us and the frequent and �untimely� load shedding aggravated the situation for us,� he said.

Bikash Sarma of Mangaldoi, another ardent soccer fan who has now shifted to Guwahati, flayed the Board stating that it should have kept the sentiments of the people in mind before resorting to such a step.

�If at all load shedding was required, it should have been done keeping the match timings in mind,� Bikash suggested.

�We have heard that the situation would remain the same for the next fifteen days and if that is the case, Guwahtians would miss most part of the world cup,� Bikash said.

Mukesh Tiwari, a resident of Rehabari, said that had it been a case during the cricket world cup, you could have seen the difference in public outcry but having said that some unscrupulous elements, taking advantage of the situation, have pumped in low-quality inverters and batteries in the Fancy Bazar market.

�These low-priced inverters and batteries are making brisk business at the cost of quality, which could be a part of an unholy nexus� Tiwari alleged.

Meanwhile, an official of the ASEB, when contacted, informed that the poor supply of electricity has been caused primarily because the gas production at the Numaligarh Refinery has stopped as a result of which there is acute shortage of production in Namrup Thermal project and the Lakwa gas project.

�At the moment we are running 300-350 MW short of production,� the official said.

He maintained that the power supply is expected to restore within a week.

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