Tough times ahead

Patna, Feb. 15: The approaching summer has spurred Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu) into expediting work on a mechanism that will ensure uninterrupted power supply in Patna even if glitches occur in one or more grids.

The sudden urgency on the part of Pesu is understandable. On Monday evening, it had to face the wrath of residents in eastern Patna after a glitch in the Fatuha grid plunged Kankerbagh, Rajendra Nagar, Gulzarbagh and portions of Patna City into darkness for more than three hours. The lines were finally restored around midnight.

“A blast in the transformer of Fatuha grid led to a breakdown due to which the cable of the DC system, which is the protective component of the grid, was affected. It took three hours to fix the system,” Pesu general manager S.K.P. Singh told The Telegraph.

Patna has six power grids of different capacities — Fatuha (150MVA), Khagaul (150MVA), Mithapur, Gaighat, Katra (100MVA each) and Jakkanpur (170MVA) — which cater to the energy requirement of the entire state capital, including that of sub-urban areas apart from Fatuha. These grids supply around 415MW of power to the state capital.

On a possible alternative arrangement in case of a major technical snag, Singh said: “Right now, we don’t have an alternative except to source the supply from other existing grids. But we are going to have some new grids, which when commissioned, would provide uninterrupted power supply to the capital.” Two new grids, Sampatchak (220/132/33 KVA) and Digha (132/33KVA), would come up next year, Singh said.

Another 220KVA power grid, which is under consideration, would be set up between Bhusaula and Bihta, as most of the institutions, AIIMS, IIT, NIT and others, are coming up in this area.

Singh said the problem of overloading and the resultant powercuts in the Khagaul grid of Pesu’s western part in summer can be solved once Digha grid is completed.

“Once this grid is operational, this will not only reduce the burden on the Khagaul grid but we will have additional capacity to provide supply to other parts of the suburban areas,” he said.

Though winter is nearing its end, people have already started experiencing powercuts. “Gone are the days when electricity used to be a means of lights and fans only. Nowadays, we use it to wash clothes and cook food even,” said M.M. Verma, a resident of Rajendra Nagar.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh, who resides near Rajendra Nagar overbridge, said: “Summer is approaching and we have started experiencing powercuts. Had it been summer, it would have been extremely inconvenient for us. Children’s studies are badly hampered. They wake up late in the morning, forcing them to bunk school.”