VALPOI: Some supermen wear capes. They also fly. But Goa found two ‘power men’, who swim, and not necessarily in swimming suits. But their ‘power’ bought light to people.
In a daring feat, two linemen from the Valpoi electricity office, swam across the Ragada river to restore power supply to some villagers of Paikul, in Sattari. They not only braved the strong monsoon currents of the river, but also the crocodiles, often spotted on the river banks.
The power lines had snapped and the people were in discomfort.
It is at this time that these two brave employees took the bold step to give ‘light’ to the people, going that extra mile, to do what government servants are actually supposed to do – serve the people. They surely deserve a State award for their courageous feat.
The two bravehearts, Gurudas Krishna Gaonkar and Rama Babaji Melekar, of the local electricity department had to take the risk, since the bridge across the Ragada river had collapsed in the last rains. So they volunteered to cross the river and restore the damaged LT line, to the Menezes farm and the houses of Kamalkant Pilyekar and Mangaldas Vaghekar and two other houses at Paikul villag. These brave men, who otherwise go unnoticed, while doing their daily duties, swam across the river and became instant heroes for the people of Valpoi.
Valpoi JE Shubham Gawas stated, “The Paikul bridge got washed off last year. On the other side of the Ragada rivulet is the Menezes farm. There is a power line which goes across the river. One of the lines had snapped and fallen into the river. So there was no option. Gurudas Gaonkar and Rama Melekar volunteered to swim and take the line to the other side. Along with these two employees, there were three others who supported them. They included linesmen Ram Lavu Gaonkar, Deepak Jaidev Gaonkar and driver Ajit Veluskar.”
When they swam across the river, the shore on the other side was full of vegetation. In fact, they had no open space to walk onto the shore. They had to climb the small trees to get onto the other side.
Very often power department employees are blamed for power outages. It is a tough and demanding job which requires constant vigilance. Befitting it was a day before the 78th Independence Day, when the two bravehearts performed the onerous task. These are the true heroes who need to be saluted for the deed which they performed ahead of Independence Day.
Menezes, a villager from Paikul told O Heraldo, “The lights had gone off after the wires snapped due to tree fall. About four or five houses were affected due to the power outage on the other side of the river. There was no possibility for any vehicle to go across. So the two electricity department employees took the wires across the river and fixed them. There was not even a rope to help them to cross the river. These two employees did very good work to serve the people of this village.”
Meet the power-men
Gurudas Krishna Gaonkar and Rama Babaji Melekar
Those who helped them: Linesmen Ram Lavu Gaonkar, Deepak Jaidev Gaonkar and driver Ajit Veluskar