Insulated power cabling fails to take off in Nellore

Nellore: As the underground power cabling system is a pricey affair, Transco officials preferred the insulated power cabling in the city some time ago for the safety of people during calamities and it was also finally proved to be futile due to quality issues.

Transco officials replaced the traditional overhead power cables with insulated conductor in March-April 2017 for preventing disasters during natural disasters. The insulated conductor generally helps to reduce power interruptions and outages, increases the safety of people, no burden of periodical tree-trimming, and reducing operation and maintenance costs.

Experts in electric cabling say compared to bare lines, the covered conductors take minimum space, safe, and avoid fatal accidents due to electrocution. Officials started replacing 33-KV lines and planned to take up 11-KV lines in a phased manner and the state government had also considered the vulnerabilities due to natural disasters in the coastal districts after catastrophic cyclone Hudhud hit Vizag city in October 2014. The assured underground power cabling system in coastal cities has also been a dream for people.

But, due to paucity of funds, Transco planned to replace the conventional overhead power cables with the insulated ones at least for preventing disasters during huge gale winds that normally destroy cables.

As part of efforts, Transco officials have started laying the conductor in Krishna and Guntur districts besides Nellore and Tirupati cities. But the project failed to take off due to quality issues of cable which was getting holes and failed to sustain on electric poles. After observing the quality issues, officials have stopped the project.

But the problems are continuing in coastal districts due to thunderstorms and other natural disasters. A couple of days ago a power cable snapped and fell on a family where three people died in Kallurupalli Housing Board Colony on the outskirts of city. Similar incidents are sporadically happening at various places in the district at the time of severe thunderstorms.

There are many streets and congested roads in the city where chances of occurring power cable-related mishaps which require a system to prevent them. An official from the Transco said they are considering alternatives in the city for preventing these kinds of incidents in the future and take up initiatives at vulnerable places for minimising them.