Trio kicks up a storm
Vishal Rambani
PATIALA:
AFTERMATH PSPCL on job to upgrade damaged supply lines after restoration
Three storms lashing the region in the past 15 days might have provided respite from the scorching heat and helped reduce the power demand, but have nevertheless caused heavy losses to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

Nearly 12,000 poles, 3,000 transformers, two 220 KV high-tension lines and two 66 KV supply lines were damaged during the last three storms. Besides, the highintensity winds had even uprooted nine towers of 220 KV hightension wires, a rare occurrence.

PSPCL has incurred major losses in Patiala, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur, Mansa, Muktsar and other districts of the Malwa region.

Nearly 1,000 out of 6,500 feeders broke down due to these storms. While most of the feeders have been restored, the two high-tension lines at Fagganmajra-Bahadurgarh and Rajpura-Banur have still not been restored.

“We have accumulated a capital loss of Rs 10 to 12 crore, whereas the loss incurred due to nonsupply of power because of damaged supply lines is much more and couldn't be calculated,“ said PSPCL CMD KD Chaudhry.

He said that PSPCL is facing a tough time to restore all the supply lines as most of the damaged ones are in residential or agricultural sectors, where electricity is needed for sowing paddy.

“This has also delayed our ongoing project to strengthen the power supply system, as we were forced to shift the entire staff to restore these lines,“ he added.

Giving details, Arun Kumar Verma, director (distribution) PSPCL, said that the supply of all other feeders, expect some in Patiala and Sangrur, have been restored.

“We're hoping that the RajpuraBanur line would be restored by Thursday. It would take another week to restore all the lines, but my men are working round-theclock from the last 10 days in entire Punjab,“ adds Verma. He said, “This has also hampered the work of upgradation of the distribution system, which PSPCL was aiming to complete by June 15 as the storm has put us there from where we had started. Now, I will plan to deload and upgrade the lines after restoring all the supply lines, which mostly supply to agricultural fields for the paddy season.“