HPSEBL acutely short of staff, infrastructure; Palampur staring at power crisis

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, April 1

A nine-hour power cut announced by Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) in Palampur and adjoining areas paralysed normal life in the area today. Apart from Palampur town, Maranda, Bundla, Thakurdwara and CSKHPKV were without power supply today. Power cuts are frequent in the area and residents have to make do without electricity every 10 or so days.

65% posts vacant

• Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that over 65 per cent posts of field staff like lineman, supervisor, electrician, foreman and other technical staff had been lying vacant for the past five years. Most of the field staff had retired during this period but no new recruitment was done
• The construction of a new substation near the ITI had been proposed three years ago. However, due to official bottlenecks and lack of administrative will, the station is yet to come up

The electricity board had announced the cut for the maintenance of power transmission lines and other infrastructure. A senior HPSEBL official told The Tribune that power infrastructure of the board was overloaded in Palampur, as its infrastructure was the same as it was 20 years ago. During the period, manifold increase in the number of commercial and domestic consumers had been reported, making power cuts unavoidable now.

He added that thousands of new houses had come up, more than 40 new hotels and homestays had also been added in the town but the power supply infrastructure was the same, which needed major augmentation for the smooth supply of power.

Higher authorities were well-versed with the situation but no new project had been sanctioned for the town, the official said. A new substation set up near Government Degree College three years ago was yet to be made operational, causing inconvenience to residents of the region. For making the substation operational, the higher authorities were yet to recruit staff, the official added.

At present, Palampur is totally dependent on just one power supply feeder at Maranda, which was constructed in 1970s, and its infrastructure had already lived its life, leading to power crises in the region.

The construction of a new substation near the ITI had been proposed three years ago. However, due to official bottlenecks and the lack of administrative will, the station is yet to come up. The HPSEBL has even failed to acquire land for the project, resulting in the collapse of the power supply system.

The rural areas are the worst affected, where there is no official to attend to public complaints after 5 pm. Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that over 65 per cent posts of field staff like lineman, supervisor, electrician, foreman and other technical staff had been lying vacant for the past five years. Most of the field staff had retired during this period but no new recruitment was made.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#Palampur