Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Saturday reviewed the action plan of Power Development Department (PDD) for winter preparedness and directed the officials to fill all gaps in power transmission and distribution by October.
“Power infrastructure must be ready for extreme weather conditions, besides proactive measures need to be taken on the ground to meet the winter power demand. All gaps in power Transmission, Distribution must be filled by October,” the LG directed the officers while chairing a meeting to review the action plan of PDD for winter preparedness, as per an official spokesperson.
The LG, he said, postponed the timelines of several power augmentation projects to October this year and further directed for making all procurements before the arrival of the winter season.
“Take experiences of the previous years along. Prioritize high load areas and keep topography into consideration while formulating the multipronged strategies to ensure the uninterrupted power supply to the people during winters. Plan ahead for power supply in Snowbound, remote and inaccessible areas of both the divisions of the UT,” Sinha said, as per official spokesperson.
The LG, he said, laid special emphasis on meeting the needs of the people and directed the power department to augment the transmission and distribution capacities in order to fill the Power Supply and Demand gap.
According to the official spokesperson, instructions were also passed to submit a comprehensive plan for reaching out to the habitations with grid electricity who are living in tough terrain areas like Gurez, Machil, and Tulail.
He further said that the LG directed the officers to work in convergence mode for the speedy completion of projects.
“Technical evaluation and administrative approvals shall not be delayed. Committed timelines & targets must be met in letter and spirit for the larger interest of the public,” the LG, as per the official spokesperson said, adding that Sinha also asked the power officials to come out with a strategy in a week’s time on how to reduce the power purchase costs.
“Along with improving the power supply position in J&K and reducing the AT&C losses, we also need to mobilize our resources on increasing revenue generation. Consumers paying bills should not be deprived of electricity,” Sinha said.
He further said that the LG fixed 3 months timeline to reduce the losses by 10%.
“Reiterating the directions passed in the previous meeting, the Lt Governor called for effective monitoring of feeders and instructed for initiating strict action against officials responsible for feeder losses. Specific directions were passed to strengthen the public grievance mechanism in the power department,” the official spokesperson said.
The projects directed to be completed by October this year included Augmentation of – Grid Station Mirbazar from 320 MVA to 475 MVA; 220/132kV Grid Station Delina from 320 MVA to 480 MVA; replacement of existing 0.2 ACSR by HTLS Conductor of D/C 132 kV Delina-Amargarh Transmission line; construction of 100 MVA, 132/33 kV Grid Station Khanyar (GIS) and construction of 160 MVA, 220/33kV Grid Sub Station Batpora, Tailbal (GIS).
Managing Directors of Power Corporations gave a detailed overview of the winter preparedness measures of the power department. The meeting was informed that the 220 kV Transmission Network Ring of JKPTCL Kashmir will be ready soon.
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