Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday called for increase in transmission capacity in order to provide quality power to the consumers.
He also supported the view that fair compensation should be given to those who face hardships on account of power transmission lines that pass through their property and the proposal for under ground cabling to over come the problems related to cutting down trees for overhead lines.
Inaugurating a two-day international seminar under the auspices of the Electrical Inspectorate Department here, Mr. Vijayan, while emphasising the need for all round cooperation for ensuring power availability, said that the KSEB and the Government aimed at providing total electrification. It was important to provide quality in power distribution. The Government’s objective was to have an adequate mix of generating capacities that would pool power thus generated to reach it to the consumer at affordable rates. The main components of quality power included continuous and prompt delivery, voltage consistency and facilities to address consumer complaints, he said.
The Chief Minister called for efforts to resuscitate large power projects like the NTPC Kayamkulam project in order to attract similar mega projects, including thermal and solar. He hoped that the 200 mw capacity Kasargod solar power plant would be commissioned this year.
The Chief Minister emphasised the need to observe caution to prevent on-site accidents leading to death of workers. He extended the Government’s full support for safety measures being taken to prevent accidents. There was also need to ensure the quality of electrical wiring and gadgets.
Electricity Minister M M Mani said accidents took place because of consumer ignorance and poor quality standards of electrical equipment and gadgets. Kerala needs to adopt model schemes implemented by other states in spreading awareness on the quality standards of electric equipment. The Director of GSLV project of ISRO, Dr. R Umamaheshwaran, Technical Education Director K Vijayakumar, Chief Electrical Inspector V C Anil Kumar, and Additional CEE K P Raghavan spoke.
The two-day seminar has been organised to generate awareness about the innovations in electrical safety systems. The seminar will conclude on Saturday. An exhibition focused on power safety has been organised at the Institute of Engineers Hall here in connection with the seminar.
EoM
