Underground cables a solution for power cuts?
Kuldeep Chauhan
Snowfall wreaks havoc in the hilly state as transmission lines are snapped during the winter season, plunging most of the areas into darkness causing huge loss to the state every year.
But the state government and Power Department, it seems, have no political will to solve the problem of power outage in these areas.
According to experts, the underground power cables can provide a permanent solution to power outage caused by repeated weather events such as snowstorms in snowbound areas of the state.
People in such areas continue to suffer due to the power outage caused by snowfall and other extreme weather events. Most of these areas include the entire Lahaul-Spiti district, Kinnaur, Pangi and Bharmaur areas of Chamba districts.
Residents in Shimla city, Narkanda, Kufri, Manali and the higher apple belts of Chopal, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Rohru and Rampur, too, suffer due to power outages during snowfall every year. All transmission lines get snapped due to snow which triggers power crisis in snowbound areas for weeks and even months together. The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL), which is the main supplier of power in the state, too, does not have enough linesmen and labour to restore the snapped lines that worsens the power crisis in the state every year.
No lessons learnt
The untimely snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti this year (September 22-24) forced people to stay in dark for over a month, as it grounded the transmission lines in the landlocked tribal district. The HPSEBL suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 4.5 crore.
Not only this, places including Shimla, Manali, the apple belt of Shimla, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi have faced long power outages in the recent years due to heavy snowfall. Residents went without water and power for over 10 days in 1993, recall old timers in Shimla, and the same situation arose three years ago as well.
A landslide near Urni snapped both old and new transmission circuits leading to no power in Reckong Peo. As a result, power supply was cut off to the tribal district during the last monsoon season (2017-18). "The second landslide at Thopan and a glacier near Kaza breached the transmission lines last year to Kaza, the sub-divisional headquarters of Spiti, as a result residents had to reel in darkness and biting cold," said Ramesh, a resident of Kaza.
"The plight of residents in Chopal sub-division is miserable. It is not a tribal area and is located just 100 km from the state capital. Yet, people, including patients at Civil Hospitals in Chopal and Nerwa, are suffering at the hands of politicians, who make tall claims, but fail to restore power supply even after 10 days," said Dalbir Chandel, a resident of Bodhna.
The government has formed disaster committees at the districts and sub-divisional level to mitigate the miseries wreaked by natural disaster including heavy snowfall, floods and landslides. But all talks remain on paper only.
‘Power cables only solution’
As the HPSEBL neither has enough linesmen nor equipment to restore the snapped lines, it makes the installation of the underground cables all the more practical to address the problem of power crisis in snowbound areas.
"In such cases, underground power cables provide lasting solution in snowbound areas, dense cities and islands," says Dr Bharat S Rajpurohit, associate professor, school of computing and electrical engineering, IIT Mandi.
The cost is on a higher side, but the underground power should replace the overhead 11 KV and 33 KV electricity lines, he says, adding: "Now, technology is available for laying such lines in snowbound areas and in cities which have dense population."
He said with the help of technology one can check all faults in underground cables easily and it enjoys an advantage over overhead lines as well. The recent snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti brought all overhead lines down on the ground that caused power outage in the district for four weeks. The state electricity board has no linesmen to relay the overhead cables and locals and linesmen from Kullu and other parts of the state were airdropped to restore power in Keylong, which took them three weeks.
"If the state power board wants to get rid of the problem, it should go for underground cables at least in areas where heavy snowfall causes problems," says Rajpurohit.
Managing director, HPSEBL JP Kalta said: "The Board suffered Rs 4.5 crore loss to overhead cables due to snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti this year, where power was restored after weeks. The Board is recruiting nearly 300 linesmen to mitigate the shortage of manpower. Underground cables are costly as the snowbound area is huge, but then the state government has to take a call on this."
The advantage of using underground cables
Underground power cables can last for more than 40 years, considering the lifecycle cost and analysis that includes installation, operation and maintenance over a whole life. Its cost would be 1.5 to 2 times more than the overhead lines, says Rajpurohit.
