Considering the pace at which Mangaluru is growing, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM) has drawn up plans to cater to energy requirements of the city for the next two decades.
One 220 kV power station at Kottara and one each 110 kV power stations at Nehru Maidan, Thokkottu, Arkula and Jeppinamogaru would be built by Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. to cater to the increasing energy demand in the urban area, said MESCOM Managing Director Chikkananjappa here on Friday.
He was addressing a meet-the-press programme jointly organised by the Dakshina Kannada Union of Working Journalists and the Mangaluru Press Club. Besides catering to Mangaluru, the company has proposed new 33/11 kV sub-stations at Malpe, Venur, Kalladka, Byakodu, Kavu, Kollur and Guthigar, he said.
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Underground cabling
Though there is a demand and a need for taking power lines underground in the city, Mr. Chikkananjappa said, there were also doubts whether this was possible. As a majority of the roads have been concreted without leaving ducts to draw cables, the move would involve cutting open the concrete roads, he said.
However, if the government is keen on taking all power lines underground, a solution has to be jointly worked out with the Mangaluru City Corporation, he said.
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Online bill payment
Mr. Chikkananjappa said that at present online bill payment facility is available in 11 towns under MESCOM jurisdiction. Another 18 towns would be added after the completion of the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).
The entire MESCOM network, including rural areas, could be brought under online payment once the company completed GIS (geographical information system) mapping of its entire network, which might take about one-and-a-half years, he said.
Capacity added
In the last two years, the company has added 4,200 route km of HT and 4,000 route km of LT lines to its network besides adding 12,000 transformers. Four new sub-stations were commissioned and the capacity of another four was augmented.
About 80 new feeders were added besides servicing 256 solar roof-top installations to generate 3.2 MW power.
Eight new sub-divisions were formed, while 33 new section offices, 62 service stations were opened and 2,450 new posts were created. As the company had severe staff crunch, 2,300 assistant and junior linesmen were recruited besides employing 90 engineers and accountants, he said.