Power dept to set up 25-30 sub-stations in two years

Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's instructions to ensure better quality and uninterrupted power to the villages in various districts, the state Power department is taking up a major infrastructural restructuring by setting up around 25-30 more sub-stations in the next two years.

State Power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Tuesday said that Chief Minister Banerjee in a recent administrative meeting instructed his department to improve the quality of power supply in some villages where there is a problem of low voltage.

"We have identified various low voltage zones and works are being done on a war footing to check the low voltage problem that still persists in various pockets. Our department has also prepared a map showing the areas where low voltage is often been reported in the districts," Chattopadhyay told reporters at Bidyut Bhavan on Tuesday.

He also said that various districts including Kalimpong, West Burdwan and Hooghly have already overcome the low voltage problem, whereas in some areas of South Dinajpur, Alipurduar, Purulia and East Midnapore the problem is seldom reported. South 24 Parganas is among the worst affected districts where maximum instances of low voltage problems has been reported.

"Keeping this in view, we are setting up a sub-station at Sonakhali in South 24 Parganas to address the problem in the district. Parts of North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Bankura, Nadia, Malda and West Midnapore were also affected.

"Around 22 sub-stations have been set up in the last few years while many others are underway. The constriction works are going on a war footing, following the Chief Minister's instruction. Our department is committed to provide better quality of light to the villages as it is found in the city. Around 3,18,541 circuit km low tension lines and 1,74,816 circuit km high tension lines have been set up by the department," Chattopadhyay said.

The department is also taking steps so that there is no load-shedding during the month of Ramzan and Durga Puja, he said.

The minister also said that his department has been losing revenues to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore due to power thefts in various districts. Thus, steps are being taken to check such incidents.

"We have initiated a project to cover the electrical wires — both high tension and low tension lines — of around 50,000 kms across the state in the first phase to check the incidents of power theft. The wires will be covered with some plastic substances so that people cannot steal electricity by tapping," the minister maintained.

Campaigns are being conducted at various places to create awareness against power theft. Repeated incidents of tapping lead to the damage of electrical wires and the state government has to spend a huge amount of money for repairing or replacing the damaged portions of the wires.