Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala May 6

Facing shortage of men, material and finances, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is facing a Herculean task to meet the peak paddy and summer season demand, which has already started rising.

Scarcity of transformers, cables

Every year, there is a shortage of distribution transformers, LT cables, insulators and 11 KV cables. The damage rate of the distribution transformers is around 9 per cent. With Covid, labour and material are already in short supply. — PSPCL Official

The number of overloaded transformers for agriculture pump sets is around 2,400 and majority of them are in the west zone which pose a threat to the government commitment of providing an 8-hour power supply to tube wells as the “strengthening of its electrical infrastructure of the state” is still pending.

The overloading of distribution transformers for agriculture pump sets and overloaded 11 KV feeders in a number of circles may pose continuous power supply problems during the paddy season.

“There are around 1,400 non-agriculture power-overloaded transformers in the state and the south zone, with around 1,250, tops the list. A whole lot of overloaded transformers in the south zone are from the Sangrur circle,” PSPCL officials said. Data suggests there are around 900 overloaded 11 KV feeders in the state. The border zone and south zone share more than 50 per cent of this total. The circle-wise major overloaded feeders are in Sangrur, Taran Taran, Bathinda and Gurdaspur.

A senior PSPCL official confirmed to The Tribune that following “shortage of men and material”, there were some hurdles to ensure uninterrupted supply of power in the state. “Every year, there is a shortage of distribution transformers, LT cables, insulators and 11 KV cables. The damage rate of the distribution transformers is around 9 per cent. With Covid, labour and material are already in shortage,” he said.

Insiders say there are about 24,400 vacant posts of assistant engineer, junior engineer, lineman, meter reader and revenue assistant, and the PSPCL had failed to recruit sufficient staff.

“The PSPCL expects the peak power demand in the state will be around 14,400 MW. It usually becomes deficit in terms of peak demand from June to October and in terms of energy (million units) from July

to August onwards,”

said All-India Power

Engineers’ Federation spokesperson VK Gupta.

Last year, the maximum demand of the state was recorded at 13,145 MW in July against a projection for 13,615 MW. PSPCL CMD A Venu Prasad said though there was a shortage of material and manpower, they were working on it. “We are sure to manage the affairs during the paddy season,” he said.