Lieutenant Governor of J&K Girish Chander Murmu on Tuesday directed the Power Department to conduct 100% audit of all the transmission line towers at 220 KV and 132 KV level before the start of next winter season to prevent damage to tower structures.
Chairing the maidenmeeting of Administrative Council here the Lieutenant Governor reviewed thepower scenario across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and asked theofficials to put corrective measures at place so that people don’t face anyinconvenience.
He directed that allthe government buildings be provided with roof top solar systems, as a part ofenergy efficiency measure.
The meeting wasattended by Advisors to the Lieutenant Governor, K K Sharma and Farooq Khan,Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governorand Bipul Pathak.
Commissioner/Secretary,PDD, Hirdesh Kumar made a detailed presentation highlighting the power scenarioin Jammu & Kashmir including the status of restoration of power supply postsnowfall on 6 and 7 November in Kashmirregion.
A detailed accountof both unrestricted and restricted power demand in Jammu & Kashmir regionswas given in the presentation highlighting therein that against the averageyearly restricted demand of 938 MWs in Jammu region, the PDD has provided 819MWs. Similarly, in Kashmir region, against the restricted demand of 1328 MWs,the department has provided 1140 MWs. It was further informed that theunrestricted demand of Jammu & Kashmir regions is 1024 & 1490 MWsrespectively.
The AdministrativeCouncil was apprised that following the snowfall, the power supply in theentire Kashmir region was severely affected especially in Districts ofBandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara and Shopian. The districts of Anantnag, Kulgam,Pulwama and Budgam were also badly affected. The entire load in the Kashmirregion on the evening of 7 November 2019 plummeted to 30 MWs. The restorationworks were initiated on a war footing basis and the power supply was fullyrestored in districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag andKulgam by 10 November, 2019. However, due to collapse of transmission linetowers of the lines feeding Nihalpul, Amargarh and Magam grids, the powersupply to districts of Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora was restored byerecting Emergency Restoration Structures (ERS).
The AdministrativeCouncil was apprised that after commissioning of 220 KV Zainakote-Aulestengline, expected by ending February 2020, an additional 320 MVA will be added tothe system which will bring the much needed relief in Kashmir region and Powercurtailment will come down substantially. Commissioner/ Secretary, PDD also gave a brief overview of the stepstaken for improving quality and reliability of power supply in both theregions. The Administrative Council was also apprised that the department hasfixed target for achieving 100% metering by installing pre-paid /Smart Metersat Consumer level by March 2021.