Chairman JPDCL appeals consumers to use power judiciously

Jammu, Jun 9: Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (JPDCL) of J&K Power Development Department (J&K,PDD) Wednesday appealed the consumers to make judicious use of electricity in their households, offices and business centres by switching off all lights, gadgets, devices, etc. when not required.
Addressing a joint press conference, Chairman JPDCL, Jagmohan Sharma, and Corporation’s Managing Director, Er Gurmeet Singh, urged the people to minimise the use of heavy power consuming devices like air conditioners, microwaves, electric cook-tops, etc. especially during peak demand hours from 7pm to 11pm.
The Corporation Authorities further called for avoiding use of multiple AC units, within households for decreasing system burden, besides reducing their own bills and use the electricity to the limit of agreement with JPDCL.
They also encouraged the people to report cases of power pilferage/power theft, being resorted to by some unscrupulous elements of the society, so that action can be taken against such persons and law abiding & honest citizens do not suffer.
The JDPCL Chairman asked the people to stay vigilant and help in identifying any black sheep within JPDCL-J&K PDD, which are in connivance with power thieves in the society. “Society cannot progress without the active contribution of its members and everyone should do his part, conscientiously’: he added.
They impressed upon the consumers to motivate everyone to make timely payments of their electricity bills, so that the JPDCL-J&K PDD can maintain and improve its indispensible services.
“Service without expenses cannot be expected because the entire power network demands recurring operation and maintenance costs” they said.
The JPDCL also appealed to the social, cultural & religious organizations, trade & commerce bodies, vyapar mandals, shopkeeper associations, audio-visual & print media, political parties & organizations, people associated with social media & influencers, Municipal and Panchayat Raj Institution representatives to use their influence & advise the general public for using power judiciously & stop power theft in their respective areas.
“It has been noticed that a large number of consumers in every area of Jammu province resort to power theft using kundis/hooks thereby causing difficulties to the honest electricity consumers too. This culture must end for our own good” they added and said that to enjoy quality power there is need to say no to power theft.
The Chairman said that JPDCL/J&K PDD appreciates all out efforts of its entire workforce, in making it possible to provide power supply to every nook and corner of the Jammu Province, be it urban areas, hilly/inaccessible deep rural belts or gunfire blazing International/LOC Borders within Jammu Region, braving all odds and amidst the current pandemic wave of Covid-19. JPDCL has lost many of its workers to Covid-19 and we pay humble homage to them all.
He added that as an organisation, JPDCL-J&K PDD has always been at the service of general public of Jammu Province and this year, under the guidance and endeavour of the Lieutenant Governor of J&K UT, several proactive measures have been initiated at various levels to strengthen the Power Distribution and Transmission networks across Jammu region, to ease out the Electrical Power related sufferings/grievances of general public, especially during the extreme summers.
The MD JPDCL also listed several proactive measures initiated at various levels to strengthen the Power Distribution and Transmission networks across Jammu region, to ease out the Electrical Power related sufferings/grievances of the general public, especially during the extreme summers.
The MD said that a massive up-gradation of the LT & HT distribution networks in all areas have been taken to strengthen the ultimate supply lines to end users.
Besides bifurcating and revamping existing HT & LT circuits, new feeders have been added under JPDCL network. Old bare Conductors have either been upgraded or replaced by AB Cables as per need, he added. He further informed that outdated infrastructure is being replaced at a steady pace too. Most of the Distribution Transformer (DT) Stations have been augmented and are continuously being improved upon in all the areas to make supplies more reliable. The existing Receiving Stations at Sub-Transmission Voltage levels (33KV & 66KV) have been augmented and various New Receiving Stations have been added across Jammu under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes. This will significantly improve the power delivering capacity of JPDCL to its valued customers.
He also said that in order to improve the quality and reliability of power supply, JPDCL with the all out guidance and support of LG of J&K UT, is currently undertaking several specialized technical initiatives like Capacitor Bank installations, Parallel Operation of Power Transformers, DT Earthings, LA Earthings and Protection System revamping, on a large scale. Augmentation of backend resources at EHV transmission levels is also being undertaken by sister Corporation of JKPTCL-J&K PDD at the behest of the LG of J&K UT. There has been a long known system constraint at 220/132/33KV Barn Grid Station. The same is being augmented by a fresh 160 MVA transformer thus raising the capacity of the station from 320 to 480 MVA and this shall literally boost the power availability to Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi & Jammu, noticeably. All this has been possible only due to the consistent determination of the Government of J&K to provide better services and supplies to the Public, in general.20MVA Power Transformation Capacity at132KV level is also being added up at Gladni- Narwal and Canal Grid Stations, which shall provide much required respite to the population of Gandhi Nagar & its adjoining areas and to areas of Canal Road, Talab Tillo etc. A 20 MVA transformer at 132/33 KV level is also being added at Gladni substation raising its capacity from 120 MVA to 170 MVA. Transfer capacity of additional 200 MVA has been made available into JKPTCL transmission network with the commissioning of 220 KV D/C LILO-1 transmission line from ISTS POWERGRID 400/220 KC Jatwal substation.
This year the current load demands of Jammu Province have escalated by more than 10% as compared to the previous year figures, which is a significant increase and this is being successfully catered to, only because of the ongoing system improvement programs.
Flagship projects of the Central government like Smart Metering, SCADA, Remote Data Monitoring and Customer friendly Billing services are being offered and pursued across Jammu province through various digital platforms now.
Help desks and Call centres are operational and are being upgraded to provide interactive user services and timely complaint attendance. Ease of Business for all public services is being enacted at all levels in JPDCL, as per government policy.
JPDCL-J&K PDD is providing a dedicated online portal for addressing all public grievances besides attending to the grievances received through offline mode as per government policy. Every effort is being made to mitigate all genuine public grievances.
JPDCL-J&K PDD has opened up various social media channels like Twitter, to reach out to each and every citizen for receiving constructive criticism, suggestions and listening to their needs and problems. This shall go a long way in sustained development and improvement of the working of the Corporation as a whole, over time.
JPDCL believes in the spirit of public welfare and the fact that nobody shall be allowed to harm this motto of service with continuous excellence.
At the same time the consumers may kindly appreciate that no power infrastructure in the world can provide unlimited electricity to consumers as the infrastructure is built keeping in view the demand projected by them to the Distribution Company & the Distribution Company interpolates this demand with some futuristic projections as well for developing its network.