Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal - the four district that comprise undivided Adilabad - are on top of the list that are ready for receiving 24-hour power supply to the farm sector.
The Northern Power Distribution Company Limited says they are ready to implement the State Government’s initiative even from this kharif season. The required infrastructure is in place besides there being the availability of adequate power for the purpose.
The quantum of power required for the 24-hour supply to agriculture sector is comparatively smaller in these districts, but the preparedness has put them on top of the list of districts. In the last two years, the NPDCL added as many as 50 sub stations to the existing 130 in the Circle thereby improving the reach and quality of supply.
New sub-stations
“All the new sub stations have been charged and being operated but for the 13 which are not operational owing to shortage of operators. We require just one more sub station at Pokkur for the Kommera feeder in Chennur of Mancherial district to be able to supply power without interruptions in the remote parts of that district,” revealed Adilabad Superintending Engineer J.R. Chavan about the development.
At present the demand for power for all categories in the four districts is 4.4 million units per day of which only 20% is from farm sector. The maximum load recorded so far is 6.7 mu per day in April last which is expected to be the peak demand when the supply goes round-the-clock.
“The round-the-clock supply will benefit all concerned in many ways. As the anxiety associated with regulated power supply will be non-existent, farmers will do away with auto starters which will save interruptions due to a sudden surge in power supply,” Mr. Chavan explained of the benefits of the initiative in the pipeline.
Rabi crops too
The benefit of 24-hour power supply however, will be reaped more by Nirmal and Mancherial districts which are far too developed in terms of irrigation.
It is these areas which see rabi cultivation also, especially of the water-guzzler paddy.
While Nirmal has nearly 52,000 agriculture connections for 38,831 hectare of irrigated land from a cultivated area of 1.72 lakh hectare, Mancherial has about 30,000 connections for 30,698 hectare of land under irrigation against a total cultivated area of 95,568 hectare.
Adilabad has a larger cultivated area at nearly 2 lakh hectare but the number of power connections is about 20,000 as its irrigation potential is limited to a paltry 11,000 hectare only. Kumram Bheem Asifabad with 9,313 connections holds an equally dismal record with only 11,755 hectare of the total 1.5 lakh hectare of its cultivable land being irrigated.
