J&K witnesses highest ever capacity addition of 3000 MVA this year: Kansal

SRINAGAR – J&K will witness the highest ever capacity addition in the transmission sector this year. A total of 1690 MVA capacity at 220 KV level and 1280 MVA at 132 level is targeted to be added this year which will be a record in the history of the UT. This was revealed at a meeting of officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Transmission Corporation held at Civil secretariat Srinagar today. The meeting, chaired by Principal Secretary Power Development Department (PDD), Rohit Kansal was held to  review the status of progress made on ongoing projects of the Transmission sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Among others, the meeting was attended by MD KPDCL, Director Finance PDD, CE, JKPTCL, Secretary Technical, CE, KPDCL while as MD JPDCL, MD JKPTCL, DG Planning PDD, CE JKPTCL and CE JPDCL attended the meeting through videoconferencing.

The meeting was informed that Rs. 400 crores were being invested in the sector under the UT Capex this year which would result in major additions including replacement of 400 MVA derated transformer bank at Gladni in Jammu, addition of 160 MVA capacity at Bishnah grid station, addition of 160 MVA at 220/132 level at Delina in Kashmir. In addition, of the 30 projects in the transmission sector which were taken up under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) at a cost of Rs. 834.85 crores, 11 had been completed while 17 were slated to be completed this year. The meeting also discussed and reviewed the progress of other projects under Capex, PIA, PGCIL, PSDF, languishing projects, IRCON and NHAI.

The Principal Secretary noted that Projects lying dormant or languishing from last several years had been revived in a speedy manner. The 132 KV Hiranagar- Battal Manwal Transmission Line Project which had been held up for nearly a decade was revived and commissioned. The 132 KV D/C transmission line from Draba to Chandak for improving power reliability in Poonch and Rajouri had been pending for nearly 7 years. That too has been completed and lead to a big relief and improvement in power supply to residents of Poonch. The long pending OPG project too has been revived and accelerated.

During the meeting, Principal Secretary reviewed in detail the status of progress of all key projects  including Wagoora- Mirbazar, Wagoora- Budgam- Zainkote, Zainakote- Alesteng section,  Alesteng- Mirbazar section, 220 KV Transmission lines projects. The meeting also discussed the status of and bottlenecks in completion of the 132 KV D/C Ramban Khellani and Khellani-Kishtwar lines which had been languishing for a number of years. The Principal Secretary directed the Chief Engineer and other officers to resolve all pending issues on these lines so that the consumers of the erstwhile Doda district would not face any power related difficulties. The meeting also reviewed the current physical status of 132 kv Rawalpora- Budgam- Bemina, Badampora- Bandipora Transmission lines being executed under PMRP in JKPTCL. The status of progress of other projects under execution including  LILO of 220 kv D/C Wagoora- Mirbazar line at Lassipora, Alesteng- New Wanpoh line Telbal, 220 kv Delina- Zainakote line, augmentation of various grid stations such as Bishnah, Gladni, Chowadhi, Ramban was also reviewed during the meeting.

While complimenting the department and JKPTCL for its efforts in finishing the largest ever number of projects and ensuring the largest ever capacity addition, both at 220 KV and 132 KV levels, the Principal Secretary exhorted the officials to finish all remaining projects under PMRP, PMDP and PSDF positively in the current year. He particularly pointed out that RoW, land acquisition or forest clearance matters must not be allowed to impede the progress of projects. He instructed the field officers to prepare a detailed tower wise and district wise report regarding pending issues including, ROW, compensation, land acquisition and other bottlenecks and resolve the same with the concerned authorities. He directed the field officers to maintain close liaison with the revenue and forest authorities for this purpose. He stressed that all these projects are of prime public importance and their completion and usage shall enhance the power transmission capacity eventually benefitting the public.