Electricity dept refuses to shut down power lines for infra work in Ghaziabad
The discom is already facing heat from residents of trans-Hindon Ghaziabad due to long outages.
The electricity distribution department has denied the Ghaziabad development authority’s (GDA) request to shut down power supply on two major transmission lines for work on infrastructure projects -- under-construction Hindon elevated road, Haj House and the 9.41km metro. The discom is already facing heat from residents of trans-Hindon Ghaziabad due to long outages.
The two major transmission lines --132KV, from Loni to Mohan Nagar, and 220KV, from Murad Nagar to Sahibabad -- pass through GT Road near river Hindon and supply power to the Mohan Nagar substation.
“The agencies should have completed the work before the summer. The shutdown is demanded for three to five days. This is not possible during peak summer season. Already, we have a peak demand of 1,000 megawatt (MW) and a peak supply of only 970 MW. If we allow the complete shutdown, residential areas will suffer as we have no alternative arrangements,” Arvind Rajvedi, chief engineer (distribution), said.
“However, in a recent meeting, we asked the officials to help us in resolving the land issue for the upcoming 220KV substation at Morti. Once the land issues are resolved, we will energise the substation and have an alternative electricity arrangement. Till then, a shutdown is not possible,” he said.
Officials from GDA said that the delayed shifting of transmission lines has slowed progress of the infrastructure work.
“Work on the Hindon elevated road has slowed down as the shutdown was not granted. Construction of the pillars for the road will be hampered as the mechanical launcher that is used to place segments cannot be moved,” Sushil Dwivedi, chief engineer of GDA, said.
Besides the authority, officials of UP Jal Nigam’s construction & design services have also requested that the transmission lines be shifted as it is obstructing the construction of Haj House near river Hindon. Similarly, a shutdown is also required for the ongoing 9.41km metro project.
Officials, in a recent meeting with the district administration, said that alternative power arrangements can be made from neighbouring Noida and Delhi.
GDA’s electricity department officials said that they need to erect several towers for raising the height of the transmission lines but the work cannot be done in the absence of a power shutdown.
“Both the lines carry nearly 300-350MW of electricity. On one of the lines, the pending work requires three days while work on the other line requires five days. We had ordered for a shutdown in the first week of April but have not been able to get it till now,” Rajiv Singh, superintending engineer (electricity) of GDA, said.