Power cable damaged: KPTCL goes to cops against BMRCL, firms

The police complaint further stated that neither BMRCL nor respective companies had sought details of the cable laid by KPTCL, thereby damaging the insulation

Namma Metro and two private companies are accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.4 crore to the KPTCL by damaging an underground power cable laid in front of the Nimhans main gate.

The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) has filed a complaint with Siddapura police against the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Afcons Infrastructure Limited and Chamundeshwari Enterprises over the matter.

The complaint, filed by Kishore C, a junior engineer in the KPTCL, stated that a 220 kV underground cable located between the Nimhans reception centre and the Sir MVGIS reception centre had tripped around 9 pm on February 16, damaging the underground cable at the main gate, he added.

As per the complaint, the incident was caused by the laying of an 11 kV underground cable by Chamundeshwari Enterprises, the company sub-contracted by Afcons, which is building a part of the underground metro line between Dairy Circle Ramp and National Military School for the BMRCL.

The police complaint further stated that neither the BMRCL nor the respective companies had sought details of the cable laid by the KPTCL, thereby damaging the insulation.

As per the scheduled prices, one metre of the cable costs Rs 23,493 and that 60 metres of the new cable will be required to repair the damage. The joint kit of a 220 kV cable costs Rs 8.14 lakh. The labour charges will be around Rs 57 lakh and other expenses around Rs 11 lakh. The total cost is estimated at Rs 1.4 crore but the exact sum will be arrived at only when the repair work is carried out, the complaint stated.

An officer from Siddapura police said a non-cognizable register (NCR) case had been taken up over the matter and an FIR would be registered after taking permission from the court. "We are going to summon the officials concerned and take the necessary action," the officer said.