JSEB give consumers a patient hearing at the meet. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, May 5: Residents of the capital met power board officials today at an interactive session to share their grievances.

The meet, part of the ?JSEB at your doorstep? programme, was attended by residents of Chutia locality.

Most of the problems related to the low voltage and reduction in voltage strength at night when the requirement is particularly high. Constant voltage fluctuation remains the other major problem. A number of complaints about faulty bills were also expressed in front of the JSEB authorities.

Over 300 people visited the camp while 60 written applications were submitted today. Some of residents had taken a day?s leave from their office to attend the meet.

One of the major problems that came to light today is that the city still has around 5,000 wooden poles that are used to supply electricity. And they have been one of the major causes for problems such as low voltage and interrupted power supply.

?Wooden poles are still being used in the area in large numbers. Some of the poles are as old as 60 years and can collapse at any point of time. The wires have also snapped numerous times in the past years particularly when strong gales blow,? said Sharmila Sinha, a 60-year-old woman. JSEB officials admitted that the poles have become a major cause of trouble.

?We associate a number of problems currently being faced by people with these wooden poles. It has been observed that the line loss (loss of electricity in transmission) in areas where these poles have been installed is high. That plays a major role in low voltage problem that prevails in homes,? said JSEB general manager (Ranchi) B. R. Sahay.

The board has plans to change around 200 poles in a week?s time. While a hundred of the poles are to be changed in various localities in Chutia, another hundred are to be changed in the localities of Ratu Road. ?We will change the others as we get more funds. But 200 will be changed on a priority basis,? said Sahay. The board authorities, however, could not give a particular date by which all the problems that have been represented in front of the board in writing will be solved.

The board had initially fixed a timeframe of 15 days for solving problems relating to wrong bills and 31 days for problems relating to malfunctioning transformers.