Cuttack, Jan. 2: The state power transmission company has begun a survey for underground cables that would provide uninterrupted supply to city residents.

According to an official of the Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited said they had begun an underground utility mapping survey to start cabling by the end of February or the beginning of March.

"The survey aims to determine the location of underground utilities and produce drawings of existing utilities, including water pipelines, telecommunications and drainage and sewage lines," said A.K. Bisoi, city executive engineer (power distribution division - I).

The survey began last week after a high-level meeting for implementation of the Rs 142-crore Cuttack Underground Cabling Project on December 30.

"The advantage of underground cabling is that people would be able to avail of uninterrupted power even during natural disasters such as cyclones and storms. The cables will lower transmission loss in comparison to overhead wires. They can also absorb emergency power loads," Bisoi said.

"Besides, they have smaller voltage drops, low chances of developing faults and low maintenance cost," he added.

After the high-level meeting, the central revenue divisional commissioner A.B. Ota had announced that the project would be completed within 18 months. "We have decided to divide the city into five zones and spend Rs 142 crore in the first phase," Ota said.

The overhead 33KV and 11KV power lines would be laid underground in a 61km area in the city.

An official of the Central Electricity Supply Utility said they would set up new transformers, while consumers will be supplied by smart grid mode through supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) technology.

Experts said the system was a control that used computers, network data communications and graphical user interfaces that allowed supervision at the high-level.