Cable clutter-free Siliguri: 550 km of underground electric cable to be laid

To free Siliguri from cable clutter, around 550 km of electric cable will be laid underground in the city. The work will be done in phases. The first phase will start after Durga Puja. The project cost for the first phase work is about Rs. 200 crore.

On Wednesday, Gautam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) held a virtual meeting with the officials of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL). Santanu Basu, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of WBSEDCL was present at the virtual meeting.

“We were planning to introduce the underground cabling system in Siliguri to remove the overhead cables. After coming to power in the SMC board, we have initiated the process for this. As it is a big work, it will take time. We held several meetings with the WBSEDCL. They have marked the areas for the first phase of the work. A detailed discussion took place on Wednesday,” said the Mayor.

For long there have been many problems caused by overhead electrical cables. Along with being an eyesore, these cables cause accidents also. Fire incidents on electric poles have occurred a number of times in the city.

With the aim of solving these issues, the SMC has planned to set up an underground cabling system. They asked the State Electricity department to take up the work. The WBSEDCL will be undertaking the project. The tender process has started and is expected to be completed by September. Work will then begin after Durga Puja.

In the first phase, the underground cables will be laid under 16 wards of the SMC.

The areas are Airview More to Baghajatin Park via Hill Cart Road; from Children’s Park to Seth Srilal Market via Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad office and Bidhan Road. The other part is from Panitanki More to Shalugara.