Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) has decided to pay farmers of Chakraju village under the district’s Kahalgaon sub-division Rs 1.22 lakh as compensation against the crops they lost after transmission towers and snapped wires fell on their produce.
The BSEB’s assurance of further compensation has helped remove obstacles on the way of repairing Kahalgaon-Sabour high-tension transmission line. On March 13, 200m of the line had snapped, disrupting power supply to Bhagalpur and parts of Banka districts.
Bhagalpur has been receiving barely 20MW out of a requirement of 50MW from an alternative transmission line. Similarly, against a requirement of 30MW power, Banka is getting only 5MW.
Amar Kumar, a villager, said: “Transmission towers or wires had fallen on our standing crops on three earlier occasions, including once in May, 2011. Each time, BSEB officials and the local administration assured us of compensation but nothing happened. This time, we did not allow BSEB to repair the broken wires.”
Taking notice of the problem, the BSEB headquarters, Patna, decided to compensate the farmers against the loss of their crops in May, 2011. “The board would compensate the loss of crops the farmers suffered owing to collapse of towers or wires. We have already sent Rs 1.22 lakh as compensation for the farmers against loss of crops in May, 2011,” said Y.K. Thakur, chief engineer (transmission), BSEB, Patna.
B.K. Srivasatava, executive engineer, transmission, BSEB, said the money would be distributed among the farmers who lost their standing crops.
The farmers pacified, Power Grid Corporation Limited (PGCL), which started reconditioning the Sultanganj-Sabour high-tension transmission line, has been asked to take up the repair work of the Kahalgaon-Sabour transmission line first to counter the acute power crisis in Bhagalpur town. The reconditioning works would take more than a month, sources said.
K.N. Singh, general manager, Bhagalpur electricity area board of BSEB, said the farmers’ agitation at Chakraju prevented the PGCL employees from reaching there with equipment.
“Now, we have convinced the villagers and hope that repair work is restored from today,” he said.
