The Kashmir Pulse

JAMMU — Managing Director JPDCL, Vikas Kundal on Wednesday issued a public notice in which the curtailment schedule has been withdrawn with immediate effect.

The public notice issued by the MD JPDCL reads, “In view of the improvement in power infrastructure by way of capacity addition and repair of 2x50MVA, 132/66KV power transformer at Grid Station Samba and 10MVA, 33/11kV power transformer at Miran Sahib, the curtailment schedule for summer 2024, issued by Chief Engineer (Distribution) JPDCL vide No: CEJ/TS-II/906-20 dated: 27-05-2024, stands withdrawn."

"JPDCL will provide 24x7 power supply in smart metered areas and up to 20 hours power supply in other areas. However, JPDCL will have to resort to distressed curtailments in order to safeguard the critical power infrastructure as and when required," the notice said.

It also requested the general public to exercise prudence in electricity usage due to the soaring demand for electricity driven by the unprecedented rise in temperatures and the severe heat wave. "The public is further advised to pay their electricity dues in time through online/offline mode."

The Managing Director JPDCL also visited the State Load Dispatch Corporation office and reviewed the availability of power for the Jammu region and said that with the purchase of an additional 200 MW of power, JPDCL shall be able to supply smooth and uninterrupted power to the smart metered areas and also provide relief to the rural areas by reducing the curtailment hours.

He was accompanied by Chief Engineer Distribution Manhar Gupta, Chief Engineer System and Operations Rajan Gupta, Executive Engineer IT&C Anil Verma and Executive Engineer, ED-II Ashok Chibber among others.

MD JPDCL issued on-the-spot orders that maintenance and repair works should be planned in such a manner that there should be no inconvenience to the general public and there should be no long-hour outages even in rural areas. He also issued instructions that no shutdowns should be allowed in the peak summer season.

During the visit, it was informed that 160 MVA, 220/132 KV auto-transformer at Gladni grid has also been brought into the circuit by JKPTCL today and the transformer is now running in parallel with 400 MVA auto-transformer bank. This will help in reducing the infrastructure challenges for JPDCL and issues of forced curtailment due to temperature rise of transformer shall subside with this step.

The Managing Director Vikas Kundal exhorted the staff to come down heavily on the illegal hooking and conduct regular inspections to provide relief to honest consumers. He reviewed the SCADA system installed at Gladni grid and complimented the fact that such technological advancements are being used to monitor and control systems at the parent grid which feeds power to maximum areas of Jammu region.

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SRINAGAR — In an attempt to combat large-scale power pilferage and improve bill deposits by defaulting consumers, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) conducted a whopping 10,465 inspections and disconnected over 11,000 consumers in the last 10 days of November 2023.

KPDCL also realized a revenue of Rs 85.24 crore, including power receipts, in the same period, with the highest remittances of Rs 16.42 crore recorded on November 28 alone.

Sharing details, a KPDCL spokesperson confirmed rampant hooking of lines on the bare conductors in metered areas and exceeding energy use beyond the agreed load by flat-rated consumers across Kashmir Division.

“During inspection overdrive, a penalty of Rs. 1.03 crore was imposed on consumers found involved in power theft across all 6 O&M Circles in the last 10 days of November. As many as 995 connections were regularised and 2120 KW load added,” the spokesman said.

O&M Circle Ganderbal conducted the highest number of 2,945 inspections, followed by Circle Spore with 2,048, Circle II Srinagar with 1,950, Pulwama with 1,528, Bijbehara with 1,004 and Circle I Srinagar with 990.

Crediting KPDCL patrolling teams for moving out in sub-zero temperatures to expose power pilferage, the spokesman shared details of 11,238 consumers disconnected in the last 10 days of November, who had pending energy dues exceeding three months. This included 7,828 domestic, 2,979 commercial and 346 industrial consumers.

The spokesperson assured the consumers of strict adherence to the power curtailment schedule following the additional allocation of power to UT of Jammu & Kashmir by the Central Government.

Emphasizing judicious use of power, KPDCL spokesperson also warned consumers to avoid hooking, bypassing of meters and exceeding overload, failing which KPDCL will file criminal charges under relevant provisions of the Electricity Act.

“We will soon start sharing details of consumers who have pending energy dues in lakhs towards the organisation. We will also expose hookers who have the temerity to openly use power unauthorisedly,” he said, adding that FIRs will be lodged against those persons who physically assault KPDCL staff for performing official duties.

The spokesman also warned commercial consumers including hotels, malls and other business outlets who have been found involved in tampering with meters and have been caught red-handed by the Central Inspection Squad of KPDCL.

“We have taken cognizance under the law and penalised them. These penalties for power theft have been confirmed by the First Appellate Authority under Sections 126 & 127 of the Electricity Act. KPDCL will ensure the fines are deposited, otherwise, we will act tough and initiate legal proceedings against them,” he said, adding the lists of all such defaulters are lying with KPDCL and will be made public soon.

Confirming positive outcomes of accelerated inspection and disconnection drives, a KPDCL spokesman said such drives will continue which are aimed at preventing energy losses and enhancing revenue collection from defaulting consumers.

“There have been many positive takeaways from such drives. This will help us in adhering to power curtailment schedule and extending comfort to the genuine consumers,” he assured.

Reiterating concern over the rate of damage to Domestic Transformers (DTs), the spokesperson urged the consumers to prevent overloading of DTs which puts entire habitations in great hardships during peak winter times.

“We have maintained a steady rate of replacing damaged transformers. Our teams at Central Workshop Pampore and divisional-level workshops are working 24X7 to repair damaged DTs and ensure time-bound replacement,” he added.

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SRINAGAR — After alleged abusive comments by some X (formerly Twitter) users to Kashmir Power DISCOM’s post amidst the unprecedented electricity scenario in Kashmir, the Cyber Police Kashmir has taken cognizance of the issue on the latter’s request.

As per the news agency CNS, the Kashmir Power DISCOM, which is an official account of the Managing Director KPDCL, posted on X, “URGENT! @CyberPoliceKMR @KashmirPolice Pl takes note of these abusive X handles using vituperative language against #KPDCL. Trace their ISPs/IDs and initiate action. @diprjk @OfficeOfLGJandK @Raj576113 @mussarat_zia @Muzamil_hassan_ @__Whoaasif @313_badr_1 @Jkpddparody.”

The request of the Kashmir Power DISCOM was responded to by the Cyber Police Kashmir with a reply on X as “@Cyberpolicekmr has taken cognizance of the matter. Action under the law is being initiated. @KashmirPolice @DIGCKRSGR @SrinagarPolice @IftkharTalib.”

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