Power board in dock over burning of substation
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 9
Breakdown of the Katha Power Substation at Baddi, the state’s largest industrial hub, has exposed the messy state of affairs in the state electricity board which failed to comply with the provisions of the Central Board of Irrigation and Power Substation Manual.

The proposal for construction of the substation was sanctioned in February, 2000, and the Rural Electrification Corporation had provided Rs 3 crore in advance to the board to ensure that the project was completed within the stipulated period of two years.

However, the board executed the project more than three years behind the schedule and with a changed configuration which eventually led to its destruction due to fire. Further, the board spent about Rs 40 crore on the project estimated to cost Rs 17.12 crore.

The most glaring and deliberate lapse on the part of the board is in the change effected in configuration of the substation. As per the original sanction, two banks of three single-phase transformers each were to be installed and an additional transformer was to be provided as standby to ensure that there were no power outages in the industrial area for maintenance and sudden breakdown of a device.

In fact, the configuration was in accordance with the Central Board of Irrigation and Power Manual as per which adequate provision had to be made for ensuring operational and maintenance flexibility, particularly in industrial areas where wear and tear is more.

However, engineers of the board subsequently got the configuration changed and installed two three-phase transformers instead without any provision for standby device.

A special audit carried out by the finance wing of the board in 2007 had pointed out this and warned that the unwarranted compromise on operational and maintenance flexibility could lead to breakdown.

It also found that the 200 mVA substation was loaded up to 180 mVA and with a large number of new connections sanctioned over the past two years, overloading appeared to be the most probable cause of fire.

Earlier, two more transformers were burnt in Solan. However, the senior engineers do not have any hope of the government clearing the mess as the board is being virtually managed at the behest of employees’ union. The consumers will continue to be at the mercy of the board as the government is not keen on unbundling of the state power utility. In the absence of competition, they will have to put up with regular hike in electricity tariff and inefficiency.