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Power supply infra in Lucknow crumbling, says consumer body president
In the past two months, more than 1200 transformers had reportedly been damaged in the urban areas of the state capital. After around six years, people had resorted to roadblocks and demonstrations, demanding proper power supply, said chairman, Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad Avadhesh Kumar Varma .
Lucknow More than 1200 transformers in the city have been damaged during the past two-and-a-half months due to over loading.
Chairman, Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad Avadhesh Kumar Varma said, “ It has become difficult for the consumers to live in the scorching heat. In the past two months, more than 1200 transformers have reportedly been damaged in the urban areas of the state capital. After around six years, people have resorted to roadblocks and demonstrations, demanding proper power supply. In fact, the power supply system in Lucknow has started crumbling instead of getting stronger. Due to this, residents of various areas are facing long power outages and tripping. There have been demonstrations and road blocks demanding normal power supply in the state capital after years.”
He said, “ When LESA officials know that transformers get overloaded during the summers, why don’t they undertake timely maintenance or increase the load before the summers? More than ₹100 crore are spent every year on maintenance but does it make any difference in the quality of power supply? On Tuesday, a high-tension wire fell on bikes parked outside the court premises. It was damaged due to overheating and poor maintenance. In a city like Lucknow, there are areas like Kaiserbagh , Chowk, Thakurganj, Gomti Nagar , Alambagh where high tension lines run parallel to supply lines. Ideally, in every city high tension lines must be eliminated and power supply must be ensured through underground cables.”
He said, “Regular maintenance of transformers, feeders, underground cable lines, ABC lines and increasing the load where required is expected. Due to increasing heat, the power consumption figure crossed the 1900 MW on Tuesday. “
On the other hand, the officials of LESA are eagerly awaiting the monsoon. They believe that now the problem of higher demand for electricity will be solved only after the arrival of the monsoon.
“The demand for electricity will decrease only after the arrival of the monsoon,” said a highly placed LESA official.
He admitted that in the scorching heat, there was a severe power crisis in many areas of the city on Tuesday. Due to this, the department also had to face the anger of the people.
A 630 KVA transformer was damaged in New Haiderganj in Rajajipuram at 2 am on Monday night. Due to this, the residents had a heated argument with the staff and the supply was restored at 1 pm. At the same time, three transformers were damaged in Haji Colony, Amethia and Murdapur of Dubagga.
The supply was also hit in Nehru Cross, Chudi Wali Gali, Yahiyaganj under Nadan Mahal Road substation from 6 pm to 11 pm. When residents created ruckus at the sub-station, the transformer was replaced. Around 150 villages of Rahimabad substation area remained without power because transformer of the substation was damaged.
