By Tony Adibe
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), on Thursday, warned residents of Southeast and its customers against reckless or unnecessary bush burning during this harmattan season.
NewsBits reports that the harmattan season usually features dryness of the environment, leaves and every other object or material, including human, thereby causing easy fire to spread with high speed at every given opportunity. The Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, told newsmen in Enugu on Thursday that the warning had became imperative and timely due to the fact that fire outbreak remained the most common risk during harmattan.
Ezeh recounted the losses the company had experienced in the past years owing to the uncontrolled or indiscriminate burning of bushes and refuse dumps. He quickly added: “we pray that such experience never repeats this season!”
The EEDC Spokesman further said: “Our network spans through, bushes, forests, neighbourhoods, farmlands etc, and any form of burning, if uncontrolled, could lead to a fire outbreak which may damage transformers, feeder pillar units, and the lines with their associated accessories, in addition to loss of lives, loss of electricity supply and other properties.
“Over the years, it has become traditional that bushes are burnt during the harmattan season for various reasons. Which mostly include helping hunters to drive bush animals out of their hiding places for easy catch/kill while some might be to enable farmers prepare such lands for the next farming season, to mention but a few.
“Whatever may be the reason behind bush burning, it is advised that such fires are controlled so they do not escalate to unintended locations/areas. For those who burn domestic waste dumps within the neighbourhoods, caution must also be applied equally so that it does not lead to unprecedented consequences.”
Ezeh also appealed to neighbourhoods that dump refuse/waste under electricity network or near distribution substations (transformers) to desist from such practice.
He explained that “we have had incidences where there were arcing from the cables, and it led to fire outbreak on such refuse dumps which in turn destroyed our installations. “Cigarette smokers and all those involved in the use of fireworks are appealed to by this period to apply caution; and dispose properly, and or strike and discharge appropriately to avoid fires escalating from that source.”
