Power supply hit by dust storm restored: Minister

Amritsar, June 24

Power supply in the Khasa and Narayangarh areas where intense dust storm had damaged various transmission lines and damaged 220 kV towers on June 14 was restored, claimed Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO during his visit to the affected areas last night. The minister claimed that with the installation of emergency system, the affected areas will get the power supply as usual. He inspected the maintenance work going on at various places and met senior officials of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

The minister said that due to dust storm and high velocity winds the major power supply lines got damaged in the outskirts of the city. The internal supply lines were also badly affected. He said the bad weather had caused major damage to the Electricity Department. The minister said the storm damaged 13,750 electricity poles, 3,379 transformers, 317 km-long power lines and 17 towers of 66 kV, which caused a financial loss of more than Rs 31 crore to the PSPCL.

He said that due to the fall of the towers at Khasa and Narayangarh, the power supply in the city was badly affected and people had to face power cuts in the extreme heat. He said that now power supply has been restored, which will prevent power cuts. The ETO said the state was not facing power shortage, but due to the fall of the lines, power cuts have been imposed under an alternative arrangement. The minister said, “We are thankful to the city residents for their support. Besides, PSPCL employees, who worked day and night to restore power supply in the affected areas.”