Poor upkeep causes snags in feeders, sparks long outages in Gurgaon and Faridabad

GURGAON: Poor maintenance of 11 kVA electricity feeders has led to damage of major transformers at 66 kVA substations in Gurgaon and Faridabad, causing unscheduled power cuts, according to Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL).
In the last month alone, two major transformers, with a combined cost of Rs 5 crore, were damaged at 66 kVA substations in the two cities.
HVPNL chief engineer B S Dahiya has now written to DHBVN chief engineer Vinita Singh flagging the poor maintenance and repairs of 11 kVA feeders and asking the discom to come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for maintaining them.
In his letter, which was sent recently, Dahiya asked Singh to submit the SPO by Aug end. Singh has now issued directives to superintendent engineers to investigate transformer failures and submit a report.
If junior engineers, sub-divisional engineers or executive engineers are found to be at fault, disciplinary action is likely to be taken against them, officials said.
DHBVN operates over 1,000 feeders with 11 kVA capacity in Gurgaon, which supply electricity from 66 kVA capacity power sub-stations to residential colonies or societies.
An HVPNL official said around 60 of these feeders are connected to the 66 kVA power substation in Sector 56, and trip approximately 1,200 times each month.
"This caused a transformer worth around Rs 2.5 crore to fail last month. It had to be replaced with a new one," the official said.
DHBVN's junior engineers and sub-divisional engineers don't properly ground the poles (which includes connecting a conductor or an electrical device to the earth, providing a safe and stable path for excess electricity to escape) of 11 kVA feeders, HPVNL said.
"Due to the lack of timely repair of 11 kVA feeders at the 66 kVA substations in Gurgaon and Faridabad, we have incurred losses of around Rs 5 crore. One transformer at each of these substations has failed. The damage could have been avoided merely by thorough patrolling and taking certain actions," an HVPNL official said.
If DHBVN officials pay serious attention to the repair of 11 kVA feeders, transformers at substations can be saved from damage, executive engineer Anil Malik said. "Faults travelling through these cables reach the transformers, causing them to fail," the HVPNL engineer added.
"Superintendent engineers have been instructed to launch special campaigns for the repair of 11 kVA feeders in their respective areas. If any engineer is found negligent, departmental action will be taken against them," DHBVN chief engineer Singh told TOI.