E-Paper
New Chander Nagar road: Dangling high-tension wires pose threat to commuters
In 2021, the then councillor from ward No. 92, Rocky Bhatia, got ₹32.5 lakh sanctioned from the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, to fix loose extra high-tension (EHT) wires dangling over the New Chander Nagar main road. However, three years have passed, locals are still waiting for a solution to their long-standing problem.
Commuters face a threat to their lives from extra high-tension (EHT) wires dangling over the New Chander Nagar main road.
In 2021, the then councillor from ward No. 92, Rocky Bhatia, got ₹32.5 lakh sanctioned from the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, to fix loose extra high-tension (EHT) wires dangling over the New Chander Nagar main road. However, three years have passed, locals are still waiting for a solution to their long-standing problem.
Former councillor Bhatia said, “The 66-KV EHT wires came down too low, just around 10-8 feet above the ground in summers.”
“Due to this there have been many accidents in this area and a couple of people have also lost their lives. Buses or trucks can’t pass through the patch as the EHT wires hang too low,” he added.
Lalit Maurya, whose terrace is just 3-4 ft from the wires, said, “During the rains, the danger posed by these dangling wires increases manifold.”
“Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had asked for ₹32.5 lakh to install a new pole to support the wires. I got the money sanctioned and was deposited with PowerCom,” Bhatia added.
The EHT wires are supported by a tower every 150 meters (about 492.13 ft). However, in this stretch there is no tower in a gap of 300 meters (about 984.25 ft). Locals claim that when the line was laid, the locality was not developed and the PowerCom had run into land acquisition problems with some farmers, which is why the stretch missed a tower.
Executive Engineer, transmission line, Parminder Singh, explaining the reason behind the dangling wires said, “The wires expand in the summers due to which it dangles and then in winters it contracts and goes back to the height.”
He said that the corporation had received the money, but there were issues in getting enough space to install a new tower midway. “We then looked into replacing one of the old towers with a new one that could sustain the wires, but the locals didn’t give any space to install it. So, we had to dismiss the idea.”
Now, he claimed they planned to install a monopole. “The process is on to install a new monopole in the place of one of the towers,” he added.
“A monopole as opposed to those wide towers has a small diameter and could be adjusted at a custom height,” he said.
“The towers, due to the construction of roads time and again, had relatively become shorter. The new pole will have enough height and the wires could be effectively tightened,” he said.
