THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: IT’S a double whammy for the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). Even as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage, the rough weather due to the depression in the Arabian Sea has rendered the staff struggling to restore power supply in many areas, especially the coastal districts which have been witnessing heavy rain and gusty wind over the past two days. This has happened at a time when the dreaded pandemic looms as a grave threat to the KSEB’s field employees, with the virus infecting more than 1,000 of them and claiming up to eight lives.
“Around 1,500 employees were infected over the past one-and-a-half month. Eight of them died. A majority of these infections could have been avoided if our field staff were considered frontline workers and vaccinated,” said a trade union leader, who did not want to be named.KSEB chairman N S Pillai confirmed the number of deaths, but put the figure of infections a little above 1,000. “So far, Covid has not affected our functioning. But we cannot rule out the chances of an escalation in the number of cases in the coming days. Hence, we have requested the government to consider our employees as frontline workers and vaccinate them. The request has been approved as well. The vaccination drive will begin shortly,” he said.
The Board is following a standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent infection among staffers and ensure round-the-clock power supply. Meter readers are not visiting houses in containment zones, and wherever possible, customers are asked to send photographs of the readings via their mobile phones. At least three extended offices have been arranged under each section for staff decentralisation. Reserve teams have also been set up under each division. Section offices have prepared a list of retired employees who could be temporarily assigned duties in case of a staff shortage. The Board is providing high-priority service to Covid hospitals, oxygen and vaccination centres, Pillai said.