Damage to power board wires by NHAI while constructing flyover at Aarti Chowk should be probed: CPI

Ludhiana, April 3, 2022: In a statement issued here, the leaders of Communist Party of India (CPI) district Ludhiana said that the flyover was being constructed near Aarti Chowk on Ferozepur Road and under the pillar which was being erected ‘illegally’ there were high power voltage wires installed by the PSPCL, which has caused huge financial loss to the PSPCL. It is reported that the PSPCL had earlier issued a warning to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) but not cognizance was taken to it. 
It is said that this has caused a loss of Rs 26 lakh to PSPCL. The manner in which this public money has been squandered needs to be thoroughly investigated and action taken against the culprits. The party leaders demanded that the National Highway Authority should immediately reimburse PSPCL Rs 26 lakh and ensure that such mistakes are not repeated. Among the leaders who issued the statement were party district secretary DP Maur, Dr Arun Mitra, Chamkaur Singh, Ramesh Ratan and Vijay Kumar.

It may be mentioned here that the areas including District Administration Complex, Feroze Gandhi Market, Stock Exchange, PAU and others witnessed blackout on Wednesday after the workers of agency carrying out construction work of elevated road on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur highway (from Octroi Post to Samrala Chowk) damaged the newly laid 66 KV underground cables which were connecting 220KV Ferozepur Road SubStation (located near pillar 87 of the elevated road) with 66KV Sub Station PAU and 66 KV Sub Station Fountain Chowk.
The cables were damaged on Wednesday (March 30, 2022) at around 14 hours.
As a Result, the power supply was affected at SubStation PAU and Sub Station Fountain Chowk and the damage of underground cables indirectly affected the areas connected with 66 KV Sub Station Sarabha Nagar and 66 KV Sub Station DC Complex.
Jasvir Singh, Chief Engineer (Distribution), Ludhiana Central said that the 66KV were laid underground after the dismantlement of overhead lines on the request of NHAI for elevated road but the rash digging with JCB by workers of NHAI in the area damaged the cables due to which the consumers faced sheer inconvenience. Moreover, as supply at four substations was affected, the PSPCL suffered a loss of around Rs26 lakhs (Rs 23.5 lakh revenue loss and Rs 2.5 lakh for repair of cable).
After damaged was reported, AO/TL, Ludhiana under the Additional Supervising Engineer/ P&M Urban Division, Ludhiana immediately initiated investigation to locate the fault but as the damaged cables were underground and there was heavy movement of traffic on the road, the team had to struggle a lot.  However, the power supply was restored on Thursday (March 31, 2022) morning at 3.28am.
It is pertinent to mention that the Additional Supervising Engineer/ P&M Urban Division, PSPCL, Ludhiana had already written to Project Director/PIU, NHAI, 4-Govind Nagar, Pakhowal Road, Ludhiana via memo no. 1234 dated 23.5.2019 and memo no. 1214 dated 27.5.2020 mentioning that there are 66KV cables laid underground and it should be taken care while carrying out construction work. But NHAI ignored the instructions and the cables were damaged. Therefore, filing of FIR against NHAI is in process.
Deputy Chief Engineer/ P&M, PSPCL Ludhiana mentioned that there is another glaring blunder which has already been pointed out to NHAI officials and DC office by PSPCL. The issue is that NHAI had encroached upon the land near Aarti Chowk where 66KV underground cable to DC Complex sub-station is laid. In future if there will be any fault in the cable, it will become impossible to locate the fault and rectify it due to which the supply to DC Complex Sub Station will not be possible as there is no second source to 66KV DC Complex. “As of now, neither NHAI has responded positively on this issue nor District Administration has taken any cognizance on this dangerous situation arising out of sheer irresponsible approach of NHAI,” he said.
He added that the concerned authorities must step into and resolve the issue as soon as possible in the larger public interest as a major tragedy is looming over Ludhiana residents to happen anytime in future.