Mehbooba reviews DDUGJY implementation

Excelsior Correspondent

Member Parliament Mehbooba Mufti chairing DEC meeting on Friday.
Member Parliament Mehbooba Mufti chairing DEC meeting on Friday.

SRINAGAR, Nov 13: Member Parliament and PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti today directed officials of Power Development Department (PDD) to provide hassle-free electricity to the people during winter season.
Chairing the District Electricity Committee (DEC) meeting to review the progress of Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) in south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian, Mehbooba said with the advent of winter, PDD officials should beef up their technical staff and men and machinery to reach out to the people with better services. She also called for judicious use of electricity by the consumers.
She said to augment and improve the power supply new Receiving Stations would be constructed at Chandgam in district Pulwama, at Trenz in district Shopian and at Dyalgam in district Anantnag. She said a transformer bank would be also setup at each district headquarter to immediately replace the damaged transformers.
Minister for Finance, Labor and Employment, Dr Haseeb Drabu, Minister for Horticulture, Abdul Rehman Veeri, legislators of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Deputy Commissioner, Shopian, Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama and Deputy Commissioner, Kulgam among other senior PDD officials and state level officials attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that total cost of DDUGJY for J&K is Rs 1249.68 crore which includes Rs 86.53 crore for electrification of 83 un-electrified villages, Rs 69.21 crore for feeder separation, Rs 638.47 crore for connecting unconnected households, Rs 96.36 crore for metering, Rs 352.12 crore for system strengthening and Rs 7.01 crore for Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
Chief Engineer, PDD, Kashmir, Bashir Ahmad Khan, informed the meeting that under DDUGJY, installation of new distribution transformers and augmentation of existing distribution transformers will also be dealt with. He said there would be relocation of distribution transformers and associated LT lines for regrouping of consumers (agriculture and non-agriculture).
During the meeting, the strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network by way of creation of new sub-stations along with associated 66 kV / 33 kV/ 22 kV/ 11 KV lines were also discussed threadbare. The officials at the meeting informed that augmentation of existing sub-stations would be speeded up by installation of higher capacity, additional power transformers along with associated equipment.
“Renovation and modernization of existing sub-stations and lines would also be taken up. Laying of under-ground cables in densely populated areas and areas of tourism and religious importance is also included in the scheme,” The PDD chief said. “There would be a High Voltage Distribution System (HVDS) Aerial Bunched Cable for theft prone areas,” he added.
On the metering, the official informed the meeting that this was aimed to ensure seamless accounting and auditing of energy. He said it would include installation of suitable static meters for feeders, distribution transformers and all categories of consumers for un-metered connections, replacement of faulty meters & electro-mechanical meters. Installation of Pillar Box for relocation of meters outside the premises of consumers including associated cables, service cables and accessories.