Two communes in Nghe An Province have been seriously concerned about electric shock because of high voltage power cables hanging over their homes.
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| High voltage power cables run through a house |
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| High voltage power cables are potential danger to locals of Nhan Son Commune |
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| Many families use bamboo rods instead of metal clothes lines to hang their clothes |
Recently, they are much more worried about their safety when a clothes line in front of a house caused electric shock.
When Ban Ve hydropower plant at Tuong Duong District, Nghe An Province started its operation in March 2010, families living at Hamlet 4 and 9, Nhan Son Commune, Do Luong District as well as locals living at Ky and Dinh hamlets, Hung Tay Commune , Hung Nguyen District also started to live with worries of being electrified when high voltage power cables were erected near their homes.
Vo Huu Chu of Hamlet 4, Nhan Son Commune, affirmed that a lot of furniture in his house had caused shocks. Clothes lines are especially capable of delivering little electric shocks if anyone touches them.
Nguyen Thi Thoi, a neighbour of Chu complained, “We are seriously concerned about our safety. If we accidentally touch any furniture in our house, we could die of electric shock. Furthermore, the development of children here can be impacted seriously by electricity.”
High voltage power cables are running over about 10 houses in Hamlet 4 and 9. Power poles were built right in front of many other houses. They all complained about the electric shocks. “It’s dangerous on sunny days and even more so during rainy days. Power cables vibrate and noise can be heard,” shared Dan, Chu’s wife.
People say that they had tried to replace all metal facilities and furniture in their houses with wood or bamboo to avoid getting electric shocks. Televisions are also affected.
Chu added, “We were advised to lower our antenna poles otherwise our television can be electrified and damaged or even our life can be in danger.”
The worry about electrification becomes worse because recently, Phan Van Ba, 11, got electric shock when he touched accidentally a clothes-line.
“Power cables are running through my garden. I never expected this situation. We have faced with electrification like this since when the hydropower plant started its operation. We claimed the functional authority, they came to check but have not given us any explanation or solution. We want to move to other places to live. Our life is in danger here,” said Nguyen Thi Ha.
Nguyen Dang Chu, Chairman of Nhan Son Commune said, “Hamlet 4 and 9 are dealing with electric problems. However, we cannot do anything to resolve this issue because it is out of our control.”
He added that after receiving complaints of civilians, his commune had sent a report to higher level authorities. Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) believes that electric shock had not exceeded the safety standards.
Nguyen Duy Tan, Chairman cum Manager of Project Management Unit of Ban Ve hydropower plant said, “His board does not manage or install power cables running through the commune. Nghe An Power Transmission Company currently takes responsibility of managing these cables.”
According to Tan, under regulations, power cables are not allowed to run through houses of locals or over their roofs.
Hoang Dai Nghia, Manager of the Nghe An Power Transmission Company said, “We have already known about the electrification at Do Luong District. We came and checked. We can conclude that power cables were safe to locals. We don’t know about the electrification at Hung Tay Commune.”
