Poor infrastructure trips power in NCR

LUCKNOW: The prolonged power outages in the national capital region has been an open secret. Now, it transpires that the UP Transmission Corporation Limited (UPTCL) has been repeatedly warning the UP Power Corporation Limited of an intense crisis if the power infrastructure in Gautam Budh Nagar comprising Noida and Greater Noida was not upgraded.
With the warning falling on deaf ears, the entire NCR has been pushed into a scenario in which Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad are not able to get more than 14 to 16 hours of power even though they qualify to get round-the-clock power given their vast industrial potential.
Documents accessed by TOI show that Noida power distribution system and the transmission division dispatched a number of letters to UPPCL headquarters suggesting enhancement of power distribution infrastructure in various sectors of Noida.
For instance, in Pali subdivision, the transmission division sought to get the capacity enhanced from 945mVA to 1,500 mVA as early as March earlier this year. The work is yet to be completed. In Khoda sector, number 62 the current load was forcibly limited to only 90 mVA as against the required 120mVA. This left the UPPCL with no option but to resort to rostering, the letter dispatched by the division on November 2012 said.
Likewise, the 132kVsub-station in sector 66 is also overloaded. It has a capacity of 103mVA. However, the overloading is forcing the authorities to resort to rostering. The letter speaks of enhancing the capacity of a line in sector 20 which has a significance presence of residential and industrial areas.
Even the comptroller and auditor general report of 2012 on power situation in NCR says that while the power load increased by 36.98% between 2006 and 2011, the capacity enhancement done by the UPPCL was only 32.29%.
A senior UPTCL official said that the power situation in Noida has turned extremely sensitive. While UPTCL chairman, Kamran Rizvi could not be contacted, a top official, on the condition of anonymity said that two sub-stations, each of 765kVA, are proposed to be constructed on public-private-partnership model in Greater Noida.
One of the sub-stations is proposed in Sector 9 of Yamuna Expressway Authority while the other is proposed in Sector 150 of Noida. The transmission corporation has been insisting on construction of sub-station in Sector 9 of YEA on "war footing". "But the work is yet to start," the official said.
Officials predict that with average demand for power rising by 8% to 12% every year, the gap between peak demand and supply will only rise.
The NCR residents even blame it on political reasons for their plight. With the ruling SP having a bare minimum presence in the region, power authorities are just not interested in doing enough to upgrade the infrastructure, they say.