Bengaluru: The energy department plans to provide uninterrupted power supply in 946 villages by end of December, Minister for Energy D.K. Shivakumar said on Thursday.
“We have selected 946 villages from 187 assembly segments for this scheme. We will be spending Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for each of the village to provide the necessary infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted power supply at these villages. The total expenditure to be between Rs 236 crore and Rs 378 crore,’’ Minister Shivakumar said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the State Budget proposed to have five model villages in each Assembly segment. “The process of identifying these villages is completed. We have decided to name these villages as Belaku Gramas. We have requested MPs to recommend villages in their respective constituencies for this scheme,’’ the minister said.
To achieve 100 per cent customer satisfaction and 100 per cent billing and collection efficiency, the energy department has selected 28 city sub divisions in the first phase with a total detailed project report (DPR) cost of Rs 3,850 crore.
“The works will be carried out in a phased manner every year,’’ the minister said.
Under the Dheen Dhayal Upadhya Grameen Jyothi Yojana, the energy department has selected 30 villages for electrification at an estimated cost of Rs 23.18 crore.
“We have decided to provide electricity to 7,57,626 below poverty line (BPL) houses by spending Rs 228.43 crore. The work is expected to be completed by December end,’’ he said.
More than 220 towns and cities (with a population more than 5,000) were selected to provide and strengthen the infrastructure under Integrated Power Distribution System. “The total project cost is Rs 1,144 crore. As per this plan, government buildings will have roof top solar system,’’ he said.
Shifting electric meters
The minister said Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) engineers would issue notices to the owners of apartments to shift the electric meters and transformers from the basement of the apartments to avoid interruption of power supply during the monsoon.
“We have identified such apartments where water logging happens whenever it rains heavily. Around 50 buildings in HSR Layout 6th Sector and around 40 buildings in Koramangala 4th block have no power supply due to water logging recently. As a safety precaution those electric lines are kept off since meters are installed in the basement. The power supply restored only after water is drained out,’’ he said.
He advised the apartments owners to shift the electric meters to the ground floor or above for safety and to avoid interruption of power during monsoon.
