PSPCL incurs Rs 8.50 crore loss due to thunderstorms

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 2

Two thunderstorms in the past few days that hit the region, snapping power supply to several parts of the state, have caused a loss of over Rs 8.50 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) with officials still working to restore power to many areas. Already facing a shortage of men and material, the restoration process took over 24 hours in many parts of the state.

The two thundershowers and strong wind snapped off power lines in parts of Amritsar, Mohali, Nawanshahr, Fazilka, Muktsar, Bathinda, Barnala, Moga, Sangrur, Patiala, Mansa, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib, officials said.

Electricity poles were reportedly damaged in many villages across Punjab, with trees causing maximum damage. As per the information gathered from officials, the 11 KV system of the PSPCL suffered maximum damage due to the storm.

Around 1,145 transformers were damaged out of which 616 were in south zone which suffered a total loss worth over Rs 4.13 crore followed by 391 transformers in west zone with a total loss of Rs 3.34 crore, 69 in central with Rs 58.10 lakh, 50 in north zone causing Rs 34.50 lakh losses and 19 in border zone with the total loss pegged at Rs 16.91 lakh. “Around 6,323 poles were damaged in the state while 1,359 other power items of 11 KV system were destroyed,” said a top official. Around 10 pm on Monday, the power load of Punjab touched a low of 3,400 MW, which meant that most of the state faced almost a blackout-like situation. “This low load in peak summer was alarming as normally 3,000 MW is the load during the peak winter in December and January,” an official said.

Even the 66 KV system suffered major losses with eight towers in Bathinda, two in Patiala and one in Amritsar being destroyed due to the heavy winds. “Approximately Rs 29.35 lakh worth of items were destroyed,” said the official.

A senior PSPCL official said, “Basically we don’t have enough material to handle paddy season this year. And if such weather conditions occur a few more times, restoring power can become impossible”.

“All officials in the field worked tirelessly to restore power in cities and villages. Due to high wind velocity and damages caused, at some places it took a little longer to restore power supply. I again say that we have no material shortage and ample stock is there, while on-the-spot purchase is allowed for field officials,” said CMD, PSPCL, A Venu Prasad.

Ajay Pal Singh Atwal, general secretary, PSEB Engineers’ Federation, flagged the issue of material shortage in a letter to the PSPCL management claiming: “Distribution transformers, insulators, cables and cable boxes are in limited supply.”

Govt betrayed people on power issue: AAP

Chandigarh: AAP MLA from Delhi Raghav Chadha on Wednesday said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had tried several times to betray the people of the state on the electricity issue. Chadha said Capt Amarinder had befooled the people of Punjab with his promises of issuing a white paper and cancelling the faulty power purchase agreements, which were just false claims. TNS

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