A few city areas could have uninterrupted power supply by October

With the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) hoping to take transmission cables underground in 29 subdivisions, several city neighbourhoods could get uninterrupted power supply post-October.

Though residents of Indiranagar, Malleswaram, Peenya, Jayanagar, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Shivajinagar and Hebbal could enjoy continuous power supply from next month, those in Koramangala, parts of HSR Layout, Whitefield and Jalahalli may have to wait for one more year to have uninterrupted power since work to lay transmission cables underground in these areas are ongoing.

“All electrical cables in the Bangalore Metropolitan Area Zone (BMAZ) limits will be taken underground by August 2022,” said Rajendra Cholan, managing director of Bescom. Though the deadline was 2021, Bescom engineers and technicians have speeded up the work to ensure quick completion.

“There were delays in getting clearances for road cutting and to shift utilities along the way, not to mention the Covid situation, but our engineers and technicians accelerated the work and achieved 80 per cent completion,” Cholan said.

“Under Phase 3, we have completed 35 per cent of the work in about 10 substation limits. Survey work for Phase 4 has also been completed. We have just begun the groundwork. Overall, after August 2022, all electrical cables would have been taken underground completely,” he added.

While the 11-KV high-tension (HT) lines are taken underground, other low-tension (LT) wires are bunched up as Aerial Bundled (AB) cables.

“The AB cables will have multiple layers of insulations bundled together to prevent any electrocution incidents or other accidents,” a senior Bescom engineer said. “This apart, power outages or power disruptions due to rain and fallen trees will also be avoided.”

Taking overhead cables underground has happened both in domestic and industrial areas, with another senior engineer pointing out that the work will make power distribution reliable and safe. “Besides, it will help us improve efficiency and cut down on Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses,” the engineer pointed out.

Alongside the underground cabling, the project is also creating facilities to lay optical fibre ducts, to which service providers can plug in their lines. “This will add to Bescom’s revenue,” Cholan explained.