As power demand peaks, damage to transformer costs industry dear in Baddi, Nalagarh

Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 21

Departmental apathy has pushed hundreds of industrial units in Baddi and Nalagarh towards productivity loss as power cuts ranging from six to 12 hours are being imposed since yesterday.

A major snag had occurred in the infrastructure in February and despite lapse of three months, the Power Department has failed to rectify it.

In Baddi, as much as 7.8 kilo volt(KV) load is being shed in a week from its six feeders, ie from Davni sub station and as many feeders from Akkanwali substation. Daily cuts lasting a few hours have been imposed on the industrial units, informed Deepak Verma, Executive Engineer, HP State Electricity Board Limited, Baddi.

Investors rued that the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area has been saturated with respect to power supply over a period of time. It has been observed that no new investment has been made since several years to maintain and improve the electricity infrastructure, owing to power cuts that have become a routine affair.

In February, a 100 MVA transformer got damaged at the Uparla Nangal, which resulted in power shortage of 30 MW in the Nalagarh area. Since then, a stopgap arrangement was put in place by energising the 30 MVA transformer, which brought some relief to the Nalagarh industries. The 100MVA transformer was also supplying power to the Akkanwali substation which feeds the industries of Baddi. With summer season, power demand has gone up as a result of which the 30 MVA transformer is not able to take additional load.

This is resulting in power shortage and power cuts not only in Nalagarh area, where tripping is taking place frequently, but also in Baddi as well. “It is lamentable that no action has been taken as yet for the repair of the 100 MVA power transformer, much to the chagrin of the industry, which is connected through Akkawali,” rued Rajiv Aggarwal, President, BBN Industries Association.

Surinder Kumar, production manager of a consumer goods manufacturing unit at Baddi, informed that every power tripping incurs a loss of Rs 50,000 for continuous processes like moulding. A loss of Rs 15,000 is further incurred while switching over to diesel-run generation sets during power cuts. With power cuts of several hours being notified, we are forced to suspend load intensive manufacturing processes while using these sets.

Power intensive industries like cement, battery manufacturers, textile units, etc have been directed to shut their manufacturing operations from 8 pm to 8 am, while other industries have been imposed a power cut of six hours from 8 am to 2 pm in the Nalagarh industrial area since yesterday. This has led to a sharp decline in the manufacturing operations of all industrial units which managements facing delays in meeting their orders. It is also hitting the export oriented units which are supposed to adhere to strict timelines.

A routine affair

Investors rued that the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area has been saturated with respect to power supply over a period of time. It has been observed that no new investment has been made since several years to maintain and improve the electricity infrastructure, owing to power cuts that have become a routine affair.

No action so far

It is lamentable that no action has been taken as yet for the repair of the 100 MVA transformer, much to the chagrin of the industry, which is connected through Akkawali substation. — Rajiv Aggarwal, President, BBN Industries Association