411 linemen to be recruited

Problem in distribution due to lack of sub stations, says Shobha

Speaking after laying foundation stone for KEB Engineers’ Association Zonal Centre building at Kavoor, she said as many as 2,500 linemen will be recruited in the State. The recruitment will be based on merit and the process of recruiting will commence soon. “There are cases wherein we have one lineman to cover two to three gram panchayats, which is a difficult job during monsoon in Malnad region,” she added.

Stating that there is sufficient electricity to cater to the needs of the consumers in the State, she said: “We face the problem in distribution due to lack of sub stations and lines. In Belgaum alone, 27 new sub stations were set up. In the budget, it has been proposed to set up 167 new sub stations in the State. If all the 167 sub stations are ready within one-and-half years, then we will have strength to supply the electricity which we have without any problem.”

She said all the ESCOMs and KPTCL officials should be approachable to the consumers. They should attend to their calls.

Additional power

The Minister said that 1,500 mega watt additional power will be added to the state grid in the future. This includes 600 mega watt from UPCL, 500 mega watt from Bellary second unit and the remaining from wind power, and other small hydro electric power units. With the additional power, there will be no shortage of power in the State.

She said her ministry is committed to the welfare of the employees. “We will give whatever you ask except transfer to Bangalore. As many as 45 KPTCL engineers have asked for transfer to Bangalore,” she said.

On the demand of the KEB Engineers Association on giving seniority weightage to the 2003 batch engineers and regularisation of the service of 2007 batch engineers, she responded positively.

Competition

Assembly Deputy Speaker Yogish Bhat said there is a need to keep a competition among the 10 zones in awarding the best service provider. A system of sending the SMS to the consumers when there is a major breakdown in the supply of power citing the reason for the breakdown and when it is likely to be restored should be introduced.

KPTCL Director and KEB Engineers’ Association President Ravi L said there is a vacancy for 450 assistant engineers in all the ESCOMs. If all the vacancies are filled, then the workload will be reduced. Shortfall of generation is the main reason for the disruption in the power supply, he added.

He said the transfer policy should be implemented effectively to solve the row over transfers. He said BESCOM has started a study on analysing the failure of transformers in its jurisdictions. All the other ESCOMs will also be asked to make a study on the failure of the transformers.

MESCOM Managing Director Vijayanarasimha, KPTCL Managing Director Ravi Kumar, Coastal Development Authority Chairman Nagaraj Shetty and others were present.

‘Get SMS when power goes off’

KPTCL Director and KEB Engineers’ Association President Ravi L said that BESCOM is planning to introduce a system wherein SMS will be sent to consumers soon after the power failure citing the reason for the disruption in power supply and when it will be restored.

He said a private IT company had come and made the presentation on the same. “Once we get good software, then we will take out a pilot project on how it works,” he said.

‘Power tariff revision’

Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje said that as all the ESCOMs are under loss, they have asked for a revision in the tariff. “When we supply more electricity, then we have more expenditure. The revision will be based on the recommendations of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC).”