Patna, Aug. 20: The Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) has started a survey to provide power through an 11KV dedicated feeder for agriculture in Patna district on a pilot project basis.

The creation of separate feeder would provide additional infrastructure and cushion to the board for supplying power to all kinds of consumers in the event of any major breakdown in the supply source of general feeder.

The BSEB has selected Bihar Power Infrastructure Company (BPIC) as the project management consultant. The firm, in turn, has appointed Ranchi-based AKS Construction Ltd for carrying out the survey. The board has taken the initiative under the Rs 1.5-lakh-crore agriculture roadmap, which the state government had approved for bringing a rainbow revolution in agriculture in the next five years. “The objective of the project is to separate agriculture and non-agriculture feeders and provide better power for irrigation as well as domestic and other consumers,” board’s director (public relations) H.R. Pandey told The Telegraph.

He said the firm has started the field survey work to identify the present power structure in all blocks, agriculture plains and pumps being run on electricity and diesel in the district.

“The board would prepare a route map for laying a dedicated feeder of 11KV for irrigation purpose in the area on the basis of the survey report,” Pandey said, adding that the work to lay dedicated feeders in all the districts would be taken up on the basis of the feedbacks of the Patna pilot project.

He appealed to the people, especially the farming community to extend co-operation to the firm for carrying out survey so that the project could be started at the earliest.

The Nitish Kumar government has prepared a Rs 1.5 lakh crore agriculture road-map to bring a rainbow revolution in the state in the next five years. The target fixed by the agriculture roadmap, wh-ich was approved by the state cabinet on April 3, is to almost double the foodgrain production in the next five years with a special thrust on agriculture education that would be imparted from high school.

Nitish, who stressed the need for quality production through organic farming, said irrigation holds the key to better agriculture output.

Of the Rs 1.5 lakh crore to be spent within five years, the energy department is likely to spend Rs 10,000 crore, a chunk of which would be spent on laying the separate feeder. The roadmap was implemented from April 1. Altogether Rs 1,49,859 crore would be spent on various sectors over a period of five years, a top government officer said. The government came up with the idea of holding a separate cabinet meeting for the agriculture sector to have in place a comprehensive approach towards the development of the sector with allied departments playing the supportive role.