<p>Dharwad/DHNS: Energy Minister K J George stated that Hubli Electricity Supply Company (Hescom) will hold a consultation meeting with Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) and the district administration to explore a project ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to the water pumping stations at Saundatti and Amminbhavi.</p><p>He noted this while speaking at the progress review meeting of Hescom held in Dharwad on Tuesday.</p><p>He said, the city MLAs have said that the 24X7 drinking water project is being hit hard due to unscheduled power cuts. Therefore, to address the issue, the Hescom MD has been told to hold a meeting with the HDMC and the district administration on providing a separate feeder to the 24X7 drinking water supply maintained by L&T company, he added.</p><p>He instructed officials to take rural power outages and low voltage issues seriously, as these problems are being reported frequently. Minor procedural hurdles within the department should not become obstacles in the implementation of projects, he emphasised.</p><p><strong>'Address grievances quickly'</strong></p><p>People face problems such as issues with electricity bills, delays in obtaining new connections, maintenance of poles and cables, and several smaller difficulties. Suitable steps must be taken to address them, he said.</p><p>He further instructed that customer service centers should be strengthened and public grievances should be addressed promptly.</p><p>He informed that this year’s monsoon rains have damaged electric poles, transformers, and other equipment across Dharwad district, causing an estimated loss of Rs 1.71 crore and a total of Rs 16.17 crore under Hescom division.</p><p>Since 2004, there has been a practice of unauthorised electricity connections. To regularise such connections, certain standards have been prescribed. For this, the Kusuma B scheme has been effectively implemented. For pump sets located beyond a 500-metre radius, the subsidy has been increased from 60% to 80%, ensuring effective implementation without any irregularities or additional financial burden, the minister said.</p><p>In Dharwad district, out of 5,59,183 domestic connections under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, 5,12,621 are beneficiaries. About 92% of the beneficiaries have been allocated Rs 200 crore in subsidies, he said.</p><p><strong>Ganga Kalyana Scheme</strong></p><p>By the end of last year, 91 applications were pending under the Ganga Kalyana scheme in Dharwad district, while 122 applications have been registered this year. Of these, 48 applications were canceled. A total of 165 applications have been approved. This year, 117 projects have been electrified, while 48 remain pending, he said.</p><p>Consumers have installed 933 rooftop solar systems with a capacity of 28.95 MW. Under the PM Surya Ghar scheme, 490 systems have been installed, generating and supplying 1.92 MW of electricity.</p><p>MLAs N H Konaraddi, M R Patil, and Mahesh Tenginakai also spoke at the meeting.</p><p>Energy Department Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta, KPTCL Managing Director Pankajkumar Pandey, Hescom Chairman Syed Azeem Peer Khadri, Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu, Hescom Managing Director Vaishali M L were present.</p>
<p>Dharwad/DHNS: Energy Minister K J George stated that Hubli Electricity Supply Company (Hescom) will hold a consultation meeting with Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) and the district administration to explore a project ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to the water pumping stations at Saundatti and Amminbhavi.</p><p>He noted this while speaking at the progress review meeting of Hescom held in Dharwad on Tuesday.</p><p>He said, the city MLAs have said that the 24X7 drinking water project is being hit hard due to unscheduled power cuts. Therefore, to address the issue, the Hescom MD has been told to hold a meeting with the HDMC and the district administration on providing a separate feeder to the 24X7 drinking water supply maintained by L&T company, he added.</p><p>He instructed officials to take rural power outages and low voltage issues seriously, as these problems are being reported frequently. Minor procedural hurdles within the department should not become obstacles in the implementation of projects, he emphasised.</p><p><strong>'Address grievances quickly'</strong></p><p>People face problems such as issues with electricity bills, delays in obtaining new connections, maintenance of poles and cables, and several smaller difficulties. Suitable steps must be taken to address them, he said.</p><p>He further instructed that customer service centers should be strengthened and public grievances should be addressed promptly.</p><p>He informed that this year’s monsoon rains have damaged electric poles, transformers, and other equipment across Dharwad district, causing an estimated loss of Rs 1.71 crore and a total of Rs 16.17 crore under Hescom division.</p><p>Since 2004, there has been a practice of unauthorised electricity connections. To regularise such connections, certain standards have been prescribed. For this, the Kusuma B scheme has been effectively implemented. For pump sets located beyond a 500-metre radius, the subsidy has been increased from 60% to 80%, ensuring effective implementation without any irregularities or additional financial burden, the minister said.</p><p>In Dharwad district, out of 5,59,183 domestic connections under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, 5,12,621 are beneficiaries. About 92% of the beneficiaries have been allocated Rs 200 crore in subsidies, he said.</p><p><strong>Ganga Kalyana Scheme</strong></p><p>By the end of last year, 91 applications were pending under the Ganga Kalyana scheme in Dharwad district, while 122 applications have been registered this year. Of these, 48 applications were canceled. A total of 165 applications have been approved. This year, 117 projects have been electrified, while 48 remain pending, he said.</p><p>Consumers have installed 933 rooftop solar systems with a capacity of 28.95 MW. Under the PM Surya Ghar scheme, 490 systems have been installed, generating and supplying 1.92 MW of electricity.</p><p>MLAs N H Konaraddi, M R Patil, and Mahesh Tenginakai also spoke at the meeting.</p><p>Energy Department Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta, KPTCL Managing Director Pankajkumar Pandey, Hescom Chairman Syed Azeem Peer Khadri, Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu, Hescom Managing Director Vaishali M L were present.</p>
