Power supply restoration works in cyclone-hit areas of A.P. almost over, says official

Special Chief Secretary (Energy) K. Vijayanand has said power supply restoration works in the Cyclone Murasu-hit areas in six central coastal districts namely Bapatla, Guntur, NTR, Palnadu, Prakasam and Krishna have almost been completed due to round-the-clock efforts by officers and field staff of the AP-Transco and DISCOMs, who were assisted by teams of the National and State Disaster Response Forces.

In a review meeting held at the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) at Vidyut Soudha here on Thursday night, Mr. Vijayanand specially commended the personnel who risked their lives amid floods and heavy downpour for restoring the damaged power network.

Electricity personnel from Bengaluru repairing damaged power lines near the Old Bypass Road in Ongole, Prakasam district on November 3.

He noted that the collapse of poles into ponds in some areas and waterlogging in others was delaying their erection. However, prompt alternative arrangements were being made to supply power, and said the power supply infrastructure in Prakasam and Bapatla districts suffered extensive damage and that Extra High Tension (EHT) transmission lines took heavy hits during the calamity.

A 220-kV terminal tower in Bapatla collapsed and fell across the 132 kV Parchuru-Chirala corridor causing a major disruption in supply. But, technical teams restored power in a record time by braving raging flood currents to clear the obstruction and restore power in record time. Severe hazards emerged when floodwaters breached the compound wall of the 400 / 220 / 132 kV Guddigudem substation but engineers got the water drained by swiftly deploying heavy-duty motor pumps. They brought the system online after rigorous technical inspections.

Mr. Vijayanand said recovery operations were progressing at a blistering pace across rural and urban distribution networks. In the purview of EPDCL zone, 1,001 specialised teams comprising 11,537 personnel stepped into action, achieving 100% restoration across all the 552 affected substations and 5,753 villages, and in the CPDCL zone, over 230 specialised teams brought restoration works to their final stages in severely flood-affected mandals such as Naguluppalapadu, Kothapatnam, Martur and Parchuru, successfully re-energising over three lakh domestic and commercial connections.

As restoration works were under way in areas where poles fell into ponds or waterlogging posed a challenge, people should be vigilant, the Special CS said, cautioning them against coming into contact with fallen electric poles, snapped wires and waterlogged electrical equipment.

AP-Transco Joint MD G. Surya Sai Praveenchand, CPDCL CMD P. Pulla Reddy, and Director (Grid) A.K.V. Bhaskar were present.