100% 33kV feeders up for three districts; Kupwara and Baramulla most hit districts
Srinagar, Jan 23 (KNO): Following the gusty winds and snowfall in many areas of Kashmir, the Power Development Department (PDD) Friday said that it has restored over 75 percent electricity in the affected areas.
An official informed the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that there was damage to several 33KV and 11KV transmission feeders. “Till 9 Pm, at least 83 percent 33KV lines and 61.67 percent 11KV feeders under the domain of KPDCL were up.”
The official further said it had restored 100 percent 33KV feeders in three districts including in Srinagar, STD Ganderbal and Anantnag.
It also said among the total 135 lines of 33KV, 112 were functional and 23 others were being restored and repaired.
The official further said among the 1302 feeders of 11KV’s, at least 803 feeders were functioning smoothly and 287 feeders were under fault.
Besides, the official added that 212 feeders of 11KV were off due to the outage in 33KV lines or due to the fault in the respective receiving stations.
About the power load being supplied to the consumers across Kashmir region post gusty winds and snowfall, the official said that till 7Pm, the department was delivering nearly 1050 Megawatts of power against the requirement of nearly 2000 MWs.
In the meantime, the official said that there may be some areas particularly in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, Sopore Kupwara feeders where the damage is huge. It may take time to restore the electricity in such affected areas. By tomorrow, we will restore the majority of the faults in these areas.”
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah in the afternoon had said that the active power load in the valley is less than 100 Megawatts (MW) as against the usual 1700 MW.
Taking to the microblogging site X, the CM tweeted, “As per KPDCL, the active power load in the valley is less than 100 MW as against the usual 1700 MW, essentially due to outage of almost all 33KV feeders including those feeding emergency services.”
“Teams are on job for rectification but extensive tree fall on the lines and the windy conditions are major hurdles to be overcome,” Omar said.
The CM also said, “Damage assessment is underway but would take some time owing to prevailing weather conditions.”
On Thursday late evening KNO reported that gusty winds across the Kashmir valley had disrupted power supply in more than 80 percent of the region.
An official had informed that the power supply was affected in more than 80 percent of the valley due to gusty winds.
The official had also said that due to the gusty winds, the department was supplying nearly 300 Megawatts of power against the 1900 MWs.
The official said that the restoration work will begin soon. “We will restore the electricity at earliest. As of now, we have received faults on many 33KV and 11 KV lines. Besides, as a safety measure, we have tripped-down feeders in many areas.”
“However, electricity is being supplied to the essential departments,” he said—(KNO)