Hyderabad: Departments of the Telangana government are divided on whose responsibility it is to settle the power dues owed to AP. Officials of the financial department say that the state government has nothing to do with the matter and that the issue needs to be resolved by the power utilities of the two states. TS Transco officials, however, say that the issue needs to be resolved at the state level.
Four days ago, officials of the TS finance department went to Amaravati, the capital of AP, to discuss the settlement of funds between the two states.
They claimed that the AP government had to pay them Rs 3,000 crore from the funds released by the Central government under centrally-sponsored schemes after the bifurcation. Officials of the AP finance department said that the Telangana government owed them Rs 4,000 crore for the power which AP had supplied to Telangana over the past three years.
In response, the TS officials said that the state government had nothing to do with the dues owed by Telangana power utilities. They said that the matter would have to be resolved by the power utilities of the two states, without intervention from the state governments.
However, D. Prabhakar Rao, the chairman and MD of TS Transco and TS Genco, believes that the issue should be settled at the state level. In a letter to AP Genco chairman, Mr Rao said, “Telangana State Power Coordination Committee and TS Discoms are of the view that the settlement of dues between the two power utilities should be done at the state level, for a permanent and amicable solution.”
Meanwhile, AP officials are unsure about whom they should take the issue up with. A senior officer of AP says that TS officials are also confused, after the finance department and the power utilities passing the buck to the each other.
Insulated cables to deal with power cut
Residents of the twin cities will no longer have to deal with interruptions in the power supply during heavy rains or strong winds once the Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL) replaces the existing conductors with insulated conductors. The replacement will be carried out in phases.
After successful implementation of a pilot project in Prasasan Nagar, where about 1.2 km of conductors were replaced with insulated conductors, the SPDCL has begun replacing conductors along a 58-km stretch in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills.
At present, regular electrical wires are used as conductors. When trees fall on these wires, they cause transformers to trip, thus cutting off the power supply. Once the wires are replaced with insulated ones, transformers will no longer trip if trees fall on them.
The SPDCL also considered the possibility of laying underground cables to avoid interruptions in the power supply, but then decided against it because it would be much more expensive. Laying underground cables for a stretch of the same length will cost Rs 500 crore.
Total length of electrical wire within GHMC limits:
33KV lines: 2200 km
11KV lines: 8400 km
LT lines: 27,000 km
- Total length that has been identified to be replaced with insulated conductors: 2000 km
- Total cost of replacement: Ranges from Rs 1,700cr to Rs 2,000cr
- Present project site: Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills
- Total length: 58 km
- Cost of replacement with insulated conductors: Rs 11cr.
