Untimely rains cost BESCOM Rs 25 lakh

Untimely rains cost BESCOM Rs 25 lakh
Vijay Times

THE Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) has suffered a loss of Rs 25 lakh because of the untimely rains that lashed the City last week.

Talking to BBVVTT , a superintendent engineer from BESCOM said that over 300 street poles had been brought down by rain and strong winds, both in the Northern and Southern Circles.

However, he said that compared to last year, the extent of damage was minimal.

“Last year, over a 1,000 poles had fallen, disrupting power supply in the City. This had plunged the City into darkness. Over hundreds of transformers were damaged,” the engineer said. Over 170 poles bit the dust in the Northern Circle, while around 130 poles fell down in the Southern Circle, he added.

The loss caused by the damage to the poles was estimated to be Rs 15 lakh.

The pre-monsoon showers have, on a yearly basis, been causing losses to Bescom.

"Trees and branches giving way and falling on poles have caused large scale damage to the poles," he said.

“If the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) trims the trees before the onset of monsoon, damages can be minimised,” the official pointed out.

He said that BESCOM authorities had held a meeting with the authorities of the BMP under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to discuss the issue.

"The BMP officials have formed a team to prune trees on a priority basis to avoid further damage," he said and added that the BMP had already identified some areas and had been pruning trees.

"The BESCOM also undertakes pre-monsoon activity like trimming some trees. However, the trimming done by BESCOM officials is not scientific and can contribute to the imbalance of tress. This can result in trees being uprooted," he added.

"Strengthening electric poles and gui wires(pole supporting wires) will be part of our pre-monsoon activities," he said.

He informed that BESCOM’s request to the government, asking it to compensate the loss, had been turned down and added that the department had been asked to manage with its own resources.

An electric pole that was uprooted at Chamarajpet to treefall during the recent rains.