Nagpur: Civil Action Guild Foundation (CAG), Nagpur, a vigilant and active social group of Nagpurians found faults in the process of laying of under ground high voltage electricity transmission lines that was implemented by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) in city. Addressing a press conference at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan on Wednesday, CAG stated that MSEDCL is not following the guidelines and norms of underground cable system that framed by Central Electricity Authority for the safety of people and proper functioning of electricity in the city.
MSEDCL initiated undergrounding high voltage electricity transmission lines in Nagpur some time ago to make city cable free.
According to CAG, “The contractors and officials are not taking care to follow the guidelines and completing the work haphazardly all over the city.” Sandesh Singhalkar, a active member of CAG said, “The underground cabling works are being carried out under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) of Government of India and standard operating procedure needs to be followed as per IS-1255 (1983) specifications. But the authority is ignoring the norms to finish the work as early as possible.” As per the norms, the cable generally comprises of the conductor, insulation material, bedding, beading/armouring, and outer sheath etc.
Although, the armouring and outer sheath takes care of the physical safety of cable, but the contractors who are performing the work is not taking care of all this. Excavation of trench not done as per the norms laid down, half round was found at 27 inch depth, whereas it should have been at 39 inches. Similarly, there is no sand filling over the pipes to reduce the threat of over heating. “The authority and the contractors are compromising with safety of citizens with this way of downgraded work,” said Vivek Ranade.
A delegation of CAG met with Chief Engineer of MSEDCL regarding the matter but the authority is also not taking the matter seriously. Normally the lifespan of a cable is about 40 to 50 years. But over the time, the insulation of cable may get damaged or weakened due to ageing. The authority should also take care of these factors before laying the cables in such manner, said Nachiket Kale, another member of CAG during the press conference.
CAG is now planning to raise the matter before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray by meeting him soon. Nitin Sathe, Shripad Ingolikar, Prashant Bhoot, Abhishek Shrivastava and other members of CAG were present during the press conference.
