Jahangeer Ganaie

Welcome: GIS Lassipora ends power woes in south Kashmir villages

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First time people witnessing scheduled power supply during winter: Locals

Pulwama: The recently commissioned first Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) in Lassipora area of Pulwama district has ended power paucity in dozens of Pulwama and Shopian villages.

Locals from the area said that it is for the first time during the past three decades that they are witnessing scheduled power supply in winter after GIS was commissioned.

Mohammad Yousuf, a resident of Durpora area of Shopian said that he is around 45 years of age and it is first time in his life that he is witnessing scheduled power supply in his locality.

“Besides there is no drop in the voltage as well,” he added.

He said that in winters, they were hardly getting power supply for 5 to 7 hours on daily basis, however, since GIS was started last month, they are getting supply for 21-22 hours on daily basis.

People from other areas of Shopian district and parts of Pulwama and Kulgam districts  also said that it is for the first time that they are getting scheduled power supply in their areas.

“I had never imagined that we will get 24×7 power supply but since last one or two months we are getting 22 hour power supply so 24×7 supply isn’t far now,” Shahid, from Litter Pulwama, said.

He said that they were getting a supply of 12-15 hours in summer and 5 to 7 hours in winter but getting supply of 20-22 hours in winter is no less than a miracle for them.

Industrialists in SIDCO Lassipora have also said that they heaved a sigh of relief since GIS was commissioned in the area and they are now able to work well which otherwise was getting effected due to unscheduled power supply.

An official said that this GIS of Jammu and Kashmir Power Transmission Corporation Limited (JKPTCL) has the capacity of 160 MVA and has been constructed at a cost of around 88 crore.

GIS incharge Gulzar Ahmad, said that this is latest generation of the grid stations and this kind of system needs less land as compared to the old type grid stations besides that it is just like a plug and play and is less susceptible to faults.

He added that GIS has load of just around 70 MVA which means more than half of its capacity remains unutilized and it has helped us in decreasing power curtailment hours in most parts of Pulwama, Shopian and few parts of Kulgam district and with around 80 MVA unutilized capacity, Pulwama and Shopian are power sufficient for around two decades at least.

Notably, a gas-insulated substation (GIS) which has zero maintenance for five years uses a superior dielectric gas, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), at a moderate pressure for phase to phase and phase to ground insulation and huge stock of this gas remains available with the department, he added.

He said that department is working to connect more and more areas on the GIS so that more and more people can get a relief.


Jahangeer Ganaie

Jahangeer Ganaie is a reporter and covers regional news and can be contacted [email protected]

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