In Hyderabad, overhead power cables will still continue

Hyderabad: Hyderabad has 370 km of 11-kv cables and 470 km of 33-kv cables underground. Multi-utility duct technology had not been used here to lay these cables below the road surface.

It costs Rs 80 lakh to lay an underground cable km including the road cutting charges that are paid to the GHMC. Though the project was launched about eight years ago under the restructured accelerated power development programme (R-APDRP), it is progressing at snail’s pace.

The main idea to lay underground electricity cables is to minimise the power supply interruptions that occur on over-head electricity lines due to rain, wind, tree branch falls and other reasons. There was also a proposal to remove overhead lines once the under-ground cables were laid. Both have not happened.

“Due to the increasing load on the overhead power distribution infrastructure, the UG cable network is sharing the load. As such, both the UG and overhead lines will remain. The overhead lines will not be removed. We need them as no house owner is allowing us to erect poles or set up transformers or even run an electricity line in the vicinity of his house. Whatever overhead lines are there would be retained,” said a senior official in TS Southern Discom.

TS Southern Discom director (operations), Sreenivas Reddy said the number of new connections in Hyderabad was increasing by about 2 lakh every year.

While duct technology will be implemented on corridors that will get white-topped roads, a decision on continuing with ductless underground cabling in the remaining parts of the city would be taken when the duct-technology proposals are finalised, he said.