AP initiates steps to face eventualities without power-cuts

Hyderabad, Oct.14: On completion of two years of the occurrence of Hud Hud Cyclone and keeping in view the lessons of Hud Hud which has affected severely the property damage and normal life of people in the Coastal Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Visakhapatnam City, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has initiated stringent steps to face any eventualities in the form of cyclones etc. without interruption of power supply for not more than 24 hours. Retrospecting the difficulties and severe damage faced by the power sector, the Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu insisted on preparation of a master plan for reconstruction of infrastructure that can withstand any type of natural calamities in future Disclosing these details, Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy, I&I, CRDA, who conducted a review meeting on completion of two years of Hud Hud devastation with top officials of AP Power Sector, instructed to vigorously implement a special plan for establishment of Emergency Restoration System (ERS), laying of Underground Cabling System across the coastal areas, construction of gas insulated substations in cyclone-prone areas etc. The Prl. Secy. said that the sustained efforts of the State government and the Chief Minister Sri N. Chandrababu Naidu in particular, for restoring the power supply which has occurred unprecedently, affected the lifestyle and has been restored within a week in city and 15 days in other parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh. By and large, it has become a case study and we should beready to face any eventuality and be in a position to restore power system / Supply within 24 hours without compromising in the quality of power. There is no need to panic, we learnt many lessons from Hud Hud cyclone. It is the time for us to develop indigenous technology for Emergency Restoration Systems (ERS) on global standards, as being adopted in Western countries, said the Prl. Secy. Reiterating the action taken during Cyclone period, Ajay Jain, Secretary, Energy, I&I & CRDA, Govt of A.P and K. Vijayanand, CMD, APTRANSCO & MD, APGENCO, visualised the following five reasons for quick restoration of power sector which otherwise could have caused lot of loss of production. During the meeting, K. Vijayanand, CMD APTransco & MD, APGenco, said that Blue print on safe and immune power systems, to restore power supply within 24 hours in case of any cyclones/ Floods, which is estimated with huge investments for implementing underground cabling systems in Coastal Districts, for interruption-free power supply even during natural calamities. World Bank has exclusively sanctioned Rs. 720 crores (in which 80% is in the form of grant) for underground cabling power systems in the city of Visakhapatnam and the following measures have been initiated by power utilities, he said. K. Ranganatham, Adviser, Energy, Dinesh Paruchuri, JMD (Fin, Comml., IPC, HRD & IT), P. Umapathi, JMD(Vig. & Sec), H.Y. Dora, CMD, APSPDCL, M.M. Nayak, CMD, APEPDCL, were also present.