Punjab power utility — Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) — on Sunday claimed that it has made all arrangements to ensure eight hours of quality power supply to the agricultural tubewell connections daily in the ensuing paddy season.
“PSPCL is committed to ensure eight-hour power supply to the farmers and we are fully prepared to fulfill our commitment,” said PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director A Venu Prasad, adding that, “PSPCL is prepared to meet the expected demand target of 14,000 megawatt (MW) of power during the paddy season of 2021. .
He said that there was as such no shortage of material which may impede the availability of power and its distribution among various categories of consumers. “Distribution transformers, poles, and conductor (ACSR) etc are available in sufficient quantities in stock to meet with the requirement in the summers and upcoming paddy season,” he said.
Prasad said that PSPCL’s material management wing has already planned in this regard and is on job to meet with any sudden increase in demand for crucial equipment and material in the ensuing paddy season and as such additional quantities of cables, PVC and transformers have been ordered to be purchased so as to ensure that sufficient and optimum stock of these materials is available in the stores.
He added that because of COVID-19 induced lockdown, labour migration and diversion of industrial oxygen etc, many prominent industrial houses in Punjab and in other states have either temporarily shut down their operations or scaled down their production capacities impacting adversely the timely availability of certain items of inventory. “Appropriate measures are being undertaken to prepone the supplies and purchase orders for additional supplies have already been placed so as to ensure that release of connections and distributions of power remain unimpeded,” he said.
At the same time, the PSPCL has requested the consumers, particularly agricultural power consumers, to remain vigilant against theft of transformer parts, cables, and other distribution equipment which has been laid in the fields.
