Gen VK Singh intervenes to resolve Indirapuram substation land issue

Following the repeated delays in commissioning of the much-awaited 400 kilovolt (KV) substation in Indirapuram, Member of Parliament (MP) from Ghaziabad and minister of state, General (retired) VK Singh, has decided to intervene

Following the repeated delays in commissioning of the much-awaited 400 kilovolt (KV) substation in Indirapuram, Member of Parliament (MP) from Ghaziabad and minister of state, General (retired) VK Singh, has decided to intervene. He will hold talks with the top brass of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and has also decided to conduct an on-site inspection.

General (retd) VK Singh (centre) addresses a press conference in Ghaziabad on Wednesday with district magistrate Vimal Kumar Sharma (left) and GDA vice-chairman Vijay Kumar Yadav (right). (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

At a district development monitoring committee meeting held in Ghaziabad on Wednesday, Singh said that the city needs augmented electricity infrastructure to do away with power cuts and the Indirapuram substation will help in that if the land issues are sorted out.

The development of the substation has been on hold as the CISF has so for not agreed to the UP Transmission Power Corporation Limited’s request for an 8.5 metre x 8.5 metre piece of land at the CISF campus at Indirapuram that is required for installing a transmission line pole.

In December 2015, the chief minister had also written to Union home minister Rajnath Singh requesting him to intervene and resolve the issue.

“We have already discussed the issue with the CISF director general. We will be holding talks with other senior officials over the issue. An on-site inspection is also planned within a fortnight to take a look at the ground-level situation. Solutions will be devised soon for the substation’s development,” Singh said.

The 400KV substation is to be developed as part of an integrated project. Under the project, a majority of the power supply will be provided by the 765KV substation at Hapur. The supplies will move to the 400KV substation at Ator and further towards the Indirapuram substation through transmission lines.

The project at Indirapuram is pegged at Rs 400 crore and is expected to supply power to the entire trans-Hindon area and the neighbouring Sector 62 substation at Noida.

On another front, Singh said that he has also held talks with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials about the progress on the work of widening the National Highway (NH) 24.

“The project has three phases, including the one from UP Gate (Delhi border) to Dasna in Ghaziabad. The work for the three stretches is likely to begin in July/August. Tendering for the three different sections was done separately,” Singh said.

On May 12, the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister, had given its approval for development of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) package II from UP Gate to Dasna section of the highway.

The cost of the 19-km section is estimated to be around Rs 1,983.51 crore, including the cost of land acquisition, resettlement, rehabilitation and other activities.

It is one of the most sought-after stretches that needs immediate widening as it is used round-the-clock by Ghaziabad, Noida and Delhi commuters moving to and from UP.