Advisor Baseer reviews winter preparedness of PDD

Srinagar: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan Thursday chaired a meeting to review the preparedness of Power Development Department with regard to power supply for the upcoming winter season in Kashmir Division.
During the meeting, the Advisor directed the officers to prepare a comprehensive contingency plan in order to meet the winter requirements which witnesses a heavy load.
The meeting was attended by Managing Director, KPDCL, Chief Engineer, KPDCL, Kashmir, Chief Engineer Projects, Chief Engineer JKPTCL Kashmir Transmission, Chief Engineer Planning and Procurement.
He asked them to focus on areas of concern and keep rapid action teams ready and well prepared so as to respond to the damages in emergency situations.
The Advisor asked the concerned to keep a clear curtailment schedule in place so that people do not face any unscheduled power cuts which irks the consumers.
He also asked the officers that they should work out a solid plan so that the metered areas face least power cuts which will in turn encourage the non metered areas to go for metering.
The Advisor directed them to explore a road map for providing 24/7 power supply to twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu as desired by the Lieutenant Governor.
He also asked them to mobilize staff so that least time gets consumed in the replacement of transformers during the winters and directed for advance dumping of poles and conductors in areas which remain cut off during winters.
The Advisor also asked them to identify the vulnerable areas that witness power shutdown during winters so that mobile transformers would be kept at their disposal.
He further directed them to complete the trimming or cutting down of trees underneath power lines by October to avoid any damages during winters.
He also asked them to keep buffer stock of transformers of different capacities available so that consumers are provided adequate power supply.
He also directed for intensifying inspections in all districts of Jammu and Kashmir to curb the menace of power theft and illegal connections.
The Advisor asked them to identify hiccups and stumbling blocks that are to be addressed and assured the department that they will be provided every kind of support for ensuring better power supply.
During the meeting, the Advisor was briefed about the present status of the power supply and steps being taken to improve and augment the power scenario to ensure adequate power supply to the consumers especially during winters.
The Advisor was informed that the Discom is expecting additional unrestricted demand of power in the upcoming winter season and all the wings of the Department are working in tandem and issues of last year with regard to power supply have been addressed to a large extent and capacity of power supply has been enhanced.
They assured the Advisor that adequate measures have been taken to ensure better power supply during the upcoming winter so that consumers do not face any difficulty for want of essential supply.
Regarding the curtailment hours, it was given out in the meeting that considering the easing-off of transmission and distribution constraints by way of commission of new grids/receiving stations as well as augmentation of grids/receiving station, the Discom is expecting to further reduce curtailment hours in metered as well as unmetered areas.
Regarding the strengthening of Divisional as well as Regional/Central workshops, proposal amounting to 17 crores has been formulated and submitted for necessary authorization and funding which will lessen dependency on small scale industrial units for repairs during winters, when the outage rate is high.
It was also given out in the meeting that 225 kms conductor and 5000 poles have been kept as buffer stock to meet eventuality during winters.