10 underground feeders promise outage relief

Gurgaon: Palam Vihar, which has borne the brunt of outages this summer — with power cuts reported almost daily — is likely to witness a significant improvement in supply from Tuesday onwards, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) officials said on Friday.
The discom plans to make 10 underground feeders operational in Palam Vihar and several parts of old Gurgaon on Monday as part of its Rs 1,600-crore “smart grid” project, which aims to provide uninterrupted power supply to the city.
Feeders are power lines which transfer electricity from a substation to transformers. Although overhead feeders are typically more economical, they are susceptible to damage from wind-borne tree branches, debris, high wind and extreme weather. In contrast to overhead feeders, underground feeders have lower transmission losses and maintenance costs, and are less susceptible to the impacts of severe weather.
A total of 600 underground feeders will be commissioned in various phases under the project. In the first phase, 10 underground feeders, which will supply electricity to Palam Vihar, sectors 1-23 and sectors 30, 31 and 40-45, will be made operational on Monday. These areas, especially Palam Vihar, witness major power outages during summer every year.
“We have divided the project into eight phases. At present, work is being carried out for phases 1 to 4. We will start work on phases 5 and 6 next year.We are dismantling all overhead wires in areas where the 10 underground feeders will be activated on Monday. Residents should witness a significant difference in electricity supply after Monday,” a senior DHBVN officer said.
Meanwhile, residents of Palam Vihar said they didn’t expect the power scenario to improve. “We are living in the worst area when it comes to power supply in the city. We are aware of the smart grid project, but we have not seen any significant changes in the area recently when it comes to upgrade of infrastructure. We don’t have any high hopes for these underground feeders. Let’s wait and watch how the new technology will change the power scenario,” said Sunil Yadav, former RWA president, Palam Vihar.
Another resident, Pankaj Sharma, added: “Even after a number of protest and complaints, the situation still remains the same. We haven’t seen any changes in our area.”