LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has charted an exhaustive plan to ensure there will be no power outages in the state on Diwali.
Additional chief secretary, energy, Arvind Kumar, said the corporation will supply 24-hour power to the entire state for three days — from Dhanteras till Diwali. He said this has become possible due to significant drop in the demand in the wake of pleasant weather conditions. “Therefore, power availability is no issue,” he said.
“Still, if needed, we would light up power plants which are under reserve shut down because of the drop in demand,” Kumar told TOI. He said UPPCL had managed to supply 24,000MW power during peak period earlier this year. “At present, the state demand is at only 15,000MW, which can be easily fulfilled,” he added.
Kumar said all divisions have been alerted for preventive maintenance of power distribution infrastructure for swift redressal of power outages during the festival. This includes maintenance of power distribution transformers through oil top up and electricity load balancing.
At the same time, UPPCL has asked the distribution companies to expedite the work of providing power supply under the Saubhagya scheme. “Many houses which did not have power supply would thus get illuminated during the festival of lights,” he said. Also, isssuing of power connections under Jhatpat scheme and Nivesh Mitra would also be expedited, Kumar said.
The distribution companies have been asked to report the number of connections given during Diwali to UPPCL. “For this we are also using social media platforms to get the feedback from the ground level,” he said. For instance, the Paschimanchal distribution company provide 1,000 new connections in the last two days.