Our Correspondent
Palampur, January 9
An eight-hour power cut, announced by Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited in Palampur, paralysed life in the town and its adjoining areas.
A senior official of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEBL) Limited said the power infrastructure of the HPSEBL was loaded past capacity in Palampur. No steps were taken to upgrade it despite an increase in the number of commercial and domestic consumers.
He said thousands of houses and over 30 hotels had come up, but the power infrastructure was the same. The authorities are well-versed with the situation, but no new project has been sanctioned for Palampur.
Palampur is dependant on only one power supply feeder — Maranda — constructed in the 70s, which has already outlived its life, therefore power crisis in Palampur is unavoidable.
Three years ago, it was planned to set up a new power sub-station near Government Degree College and its foundation stone was laid by then CM Virbadhra Singh, but because of official bottlenecks and lack of administrative will, it could not come up, resulting in the total collapse of system.
Rural areas are the worst affected as there is no one to attend to public complaints after 5 pm.
At present, the HPSEBL is allocating its major projects to urban areas. Since 90 per cent Palampur comes under panchayat (rural areas), there is no allocation of budget and many new DPRs are hanging fire.
Earlier, Palampur was to get a municipal corporation, which would have given a boost to the infrastructure, but the government turned down the proposal after opposition from local Congress leaders.
Information revealed that over 65 per cent posts of linesman, supervisor, electrician, foreman and technician had been lying vacant for the past five years as most of the field staff retired during this period and no new recruitments were made.
Courtesy: Tribune News Service
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