Two years on, power supply lines for Panipat ethanol plant ready

Parveen Arora

Karnal, September 2

After witnessing hiccups in the past over two years, the HVPNL has completed the work of erection of power lines from 220kv sub-station at Mund village in the district to the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Panipat.

The 33.8-km-long power lines will give power supply to operate the ethanol plant of the IOCL in Panipat, an ambitious project of the state and the Centre. It would give a boost to the initiative of the government to use ethanol as fuel in vehicles, said an official.

Applied for green clearance

We have applied for the environmental clearance as there is a need for pruning trees as they, at several places, are creating hurdles. We are hopeful of getting approval this week and the power will be supplied in the lines. —Randeep Chauhan, Xen (Transmission division)

The work of erection, testing, and supply was awarded on February 1, 2021, and it was scheduled to be completed by June 1, 2022, with an estimated cost of Rs 22.4 crore, said an official associated with the project.

As per the authorities, there were several reasons, which delayed the work. Stiff resistance of the farmers and landowners was one of the main reasons as they were demanding higher crop compensation for erecting towers in their fields.

They were demanding Rs 15 lakh per tower and the work had to be stopped by the HVPNL due to continued protests of farmers under the BKU banner on May 13, 2022.

The district authorities played a vital role in persuading farmers and work was resumed on March 16, 2023. As per the sources, the farmers were compensated as per the new policy, under which prices of the land, where the tower was erected, were given to farmers.

“We have completed the erection work of the power lines. I appreciate the efforts of all officials involved in persuading farmers, due to which a long pending project has been completed,” said DC Anish Yadav.