Whats your pole number?
Whats your pole number?
Do you know your pole number? You know ... that electrical pole outside your apartment or villa? If you do not know, then as a good citizen, go down and take a look. What do you see? Does it have a number on it? I don't mean the number of the packers or movers, or the friendly local electrician. I mean the number of the pole itself as allotted by GVMC or EPDCL.
Why would you need the pole number?
Well, if the street light is not working in your part of town, you will have to call a GVMC number to lodge a complaint. To do this you will first have to know the street light not working complaint number. This telephone number is not displayed anywhere prominently for the general public to see. Going by how few people know this number I assume it is a top secret classified number. But, have no fear, I will reveal it to you. The number is 155304. However if you call the number to lodge a complaint, they will ask you for your POLE NUMBER. You will plead that you do not know the pole number and request them to take the complaint anyway. But the lady at the call center will be firm. "No pole number ... no complaint accepted" she will declare with an air of finality. At that point you will put the phone down with a whimper and continue without a working street light in your street.
I set out to find my pole number
It happened to me, so armed with a torch and my camera I set out on a journey of discovery to find out my pole number. Here is what I found: All I could make out was a "DF" followed by some ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
I expand my search to Panduranga Temple Road
Upset by my incompetence I decided to survey all the poles of Panduranga Temple Road. After all the VUDA Vice Chairman's home was on this road, the Joint Collector and the an important representative of the people was around the corner and the Officers' Club with an impressive list of official members was also on the same street. We must surely have an organised pole numbering system here is what I thought. But I was wrong.
My intrepid journey down the Panduranga Temple Road in search of the elusive pole number
Next day armed with my camera I trundled off down Panduranga Temple Road. I took a photo of each and every pole, electrical, telephone and those of unknown use.
My findings
Dear reader I am glad to present my findings here in brief:
Here is a collage of poles
You will have to take a closer look to really get the point. I recommend you do a similar survey in your area to understand the pole numbering system and the wonderful world of pole architecture in Vizag.
Do you know your pole number? You know ... that electrical pole outside your apartment or villa? If you do not know, then as a good citizen, go down and take a look. What do you see? Does it have a number on it? I don't mean the number of the packers or movers, or the friendly local electrician. I mean the number of the pole itself as allotted by GVMC or EPDCL.
Why would you need the pole number?
Well, if the street light is not working in your part of town, you will have to call a GVMC number to lodge a complaint. To do this you will first have to know the street light not working complaint number. This telephone number is not displayed anywhere prominently for the general public to see. Going by how few people know this number I assume it is a top secret classified number. But, have no fear, I will reveal it to you. The number is 155304. However if you call the number to lodge a complaint, they will ask you for your POLE NUMBER. You will plead that you do not know the pole number and request them to take the complaint anyway. But the lady at the call center will be firm. "No pole number ... no complaint accepted" she will declare with an air of finality. At that point you will put the phone down with a whimper and continue without a working street light in your street.
I set out to find my pole numberIt happened to me, so armed with a torch and my camera I set out on a journey of discovery to find out my pole number. Here is what I found: All I could make out was a "DF" followed by some ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
I expand my search to Panduranga Temple Road
Upset by my incompetence I decided to survey all the poles of Panduranga Temple Road. After all the VUDA Vice Chairman's home was on this road, the Joint Collector and the an important representative of the people was around the corner and the Officers' Club with an impressive list of official members was also on the same street. We must surely have an organised pole numbering system here is what I thought. But I was wrong.
My intrepid journey down the Panduranga Temple Road in search of the elusive pole number
Next day armed with my camera I trundled off down Panduranga Temple Road. I took a photo of each and every pole, electrical, telephone and those of unknown use.
My findings
Dear reader I am glad to present my findings here in brief:
- First I could not find even a single pole with a clear pole number!
- Most poles were used for advertisement
- Several poles had no wires attached to them, perhaps left over from some bygone era
- Some poles had only a lonely strand of wire hanging from them
- Many had TV cable wires swinging low over the street and ending mysteriously in the bushes or vanishing into drains, must be sending out dirty movies ;-)
- Many of the poles were inclined quite artistically waiting to fall on a passerby or a vehicle
- There were a few useful looking poles holding up transformers and thick electrical wires
- Several switch and fuse boxes were left open, inviting people to touch them for a really shocking experience
- Decades from now, when historians excavate Pandurangapuram, they will probably dub it as the "City of Poles"
- Ironically there were 110 poles on that one street but only 1 tree!
Here is a collage of poles
You will have to take a closer look to really get the point. I recommend you do a similar survey in your area to understand the pole numbering system and the wonderful world of pole architecture in Vizag.
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