SRINAGAR: The officials of the Power Development Department said on Monday that they have restored electricity supply in major towns of the Valley after Sundays heavy snowfall.
We have restored 90 percent supply in Srinagar. 80 percent power supply has also been restored in north Kashmir, while 60 percent in south Kashmir, where severe damage was caused to power infrastructure by snow Chief Engineer, Bashir Khan said.
Our men are working there to restore electricity fully. We have already sent the required material needed for the work, he said, and added that the consumption reached 800 Mega watts out of 1200 after his men repaired the service lines till Monday evening.
He said that the restoration work was started early morning to ensure that the people dont face inconvenience due to non-availability of electricity. He said that despite damage to electricity poles and snapped wires, the supply was restored in most parts of the Valley.
Khan said that most of the damage to the infrastructure is caused by the trees. He said the snowfall doesnt damage the polls.
Most of the damage to electric poles and wires is caused by trees. In rural areas, we have dense plantation and in snowfall, the trees get uprooted and fall on the lines, he said.
Chief Engineer PDD also requested the locals not to fiddle with the electric wires or transformers damaged by the snowfall.
The locals should avoid toucing wire and transformers. Our men will fix the faults and ensure that the electricity is supplied to every home, he said, adding that PDD will ensure that 100 percent restoration work is done by Tuesday so that all the affected areas get the electricity.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh today reviewed the power situation in a high level meeting that was also attended by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Relief and Rehabilitation Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari, Principal Secretary Power, Development Commissioner Power, Chief Engineers, Kashmir besides other officers of the department.
In the meeting, Kumar said that power infrastructure damaged during recent snowfall in the valley should be restored on war-footing. He directed the concerned officers to gear up their men and machinery for immediate repair and restoration of damaged transmission lines and other power infrastructure including transformers, so that people do not face any inconvenience during these cold days.
Reiterating the commitment of the Government to ensure power supply to people with minimum curtailment, the Deputy Chief Minister said that power supply to essential services like hospitals, water supply schemes, dewatering stations etc should be restored on priority. He directed the Chief Engineers ME & RE and Chief Engineer S&O to personally monitor the situation.
Regarding the transformers damaged during the snowfall and before, the Deputy Chief Minister called for their immediate restoration, adding that repairing process of such damaged transformers should be standardized and made transparent.
For immediate redressal of public grievances, Dr. Nirmal said that the public grievance cell/call centre of the department should be made functional 24×7, Deputy Chief Minister said.
Stressing upon the officers to put in their best efforts to restore power supply in the affected areas, the Deputy Chief Minister said that, subordinate engineers viz Executive Engineers, Assistant Engineers etc will be held responsible for taking measures to bring down losses in the system.
Deputy Chief Minister directed the Development Commissioner Power to review the power scenario of the whole State on weekly basis, every Saturday and submit report to the Principal Secretary Power every Monday.(GNS)
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