Recurring accidents and technical snags at the power house of the Kerala State Electricity Board at Moozhiyar was ample testimony to the sorry state of affairs with various power
stations in the State, M. Sukumara Pillai, veteran trade union leader and Kerala Electricity Workers Federation (KEWF) patron, said.
Talking to The Hindu on Saturday, Mr. Pillai alleged that the technical failure of two generators, one of them a brand new one purchased from China, has also exposed the ineptitude of the KSEB in
ensuring safe and effective functioning of the power houses.
The 60 MW Generator-IV that has been recently installed by a Chinese company, Poission De Leau, replacing a blown out generator, at the Moozhiyar power house had reportedly developed a winding failure 10 days ago. Another machine, Generator-VI, too had failed at the power station a few days ago reportedly due to a technical problem in its cooling chamber, reducing the capacity of the power generating station
from 340 MW to 220 MW.
Mr. Pillai said the KSEB authorities were not supposed to wash off their hands for the present crisis at Moozhiyar by blaming each other. He said the Government should take effective steps to make the
authorities concerned accountable for such problems that pose threat to the workers on duty at these sensitive places.
The KEWF leader alleged that mishaps like fire, minor explosions, technical snags, etc., have become more or less common at KSEB’s various power generating centres. Both the Government and the
KSEB authorities should clarify as to who is accountable for these avoidable accidents, he said.
An explosion occurred in Generator-IV of the Moozhiyar power house on February 16 in 2008, claimed two lives and injured 13 persons.
A worker was killed in another fire at the same power house, earlier, in March, 2003, besides the mishaps in Idukki and various other places, he said. The KEWF leader alleged that KSEB has failed to
learn lessons from these mishaps and to ensure a foolproof functioning of its power stations.
Mr. Pillai has called upon the Government to initiate necessary steps to ensure accountability in the very functioning of the KSEB machinery and save the State’s power sector from further crises.
