The top brass of Uttar Pradesh power distribution and energy sector unveiled a host of amenities for residents of Ghaziabad in a mega inauguration event held in Indirapuram today. Uttar Pradesh energy minister Srikant Sharma, unveiled two 400kva power substations in Ghaziabad along with Urja Mitra a power-cut management cum notifications platform and a RFMS (Rural Feeder Monitoring System). RFMS essentially will assist in energy audit and measuring transmission losses in the power supply to rural areas.
While the substation located in Indirapuram shall supply electricity to the entire trans-Hindon area (Vaishali, Kaushambi, Pratap Vihar and Indirapuram) and parts of Noida, the substation in Ataur village shall supply power to the rural areas of Ghaziabad.
The Urja Mitra platform is a first of its kind in Uttar Pradesh and is both a mobile app and web based application. The platform will provide real time information regarding power-cuts in the consumer’s respective area and the reason behind them. It will also keep track of the duration of outages. Consumers can also lodge complaints via the platform.
The new substation has two 400/220-kV transformers, which are of 500MVA capacity each, and three other 220/33-kV transformers of 60MVA capacity each.
Before it had been powered up, the substation in Indirapuram had faced a host of hurdles and missed several deadlines. The construction of the powerlines, which connected the substation to the generation source in Sonbhardra district had faced resistance from farmers in Morta who were resisting land acquisition. Problems again surfaced when the CISF camp near NH 24 in Indirapuram refused to provide land for a transmission tower. However, the matter was sorted with the intervention of union minister, Gen. VK Singh. The project also saw resistance from locals who had taken the matter to the National Green Tribunal citing environmental pollution.
“It was a tough task to build this power highway all the way from Sonbhadra. However, the volume of the supply should be sufficient to satisfy the demands of the next five years,” said Kamran Rizhvi, CMD of UPPTCL (UP Power Transmission Corporation Limited).
Addressing the gathering of residents from across Ghaziabad, Srikant Sharma, the energy minister of UP maintained that complete urban and rural electrification (including illumination of the remotest villages of the state) was the motto of the current Adityanath Yogi led UP government.
Sharma also took a jab at the previous Samajwadi Party led state government and alleged that the government had done nothing substantial in the domain of electrification. “The discoms of the state government will strive to provide electricity with minimum power cuts,” he added.
Ironically, by dusk as the ministers, MLAs and top notch officials left the venue the entire township of Indirapuram got shrouded in a veil of darkness. No street lights were working and pedestrians were navigating their way in the light filtering from nearby shops and passing vehicles.
