Power Minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar speaks on his department’s plans in the Assembly.
Photo Credits: Narayan Pissurlenkar
MAPUSA
Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar announced in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Monday that the government has commenced an initiative to mark the underground electricity cables.
This move aims to facilitate prompt identification and prevent damage during excavation work.
“The government has started marking the underground electricity cables. This marking will help us easily identify the location of these utility lines, whether they are on the left or right side of the road,” Dhavalikar stated.
He emphasised that this effort is crucial due to the extensive underground cabling work being undertaken across the State.
Dhavalikar’s announcement came in response to concerns raised by Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, who highlighted issues with frequent faults in underground power cables in Margao.
Kamat noted that nearly 94 faults had been reported and pointed out that these faults often occur when other departments excavate roads and inadvertently damage power cables.
Kamat proposed that the government implement a system requiring other departments to obtain permission before conducting digging work, and suggested having an electricity department junior engineer (JE) present during such activities to prevent cable damage.
He also raised concerns about the lengthy process of locating faults in underground cables, which causes inconvenience to consumers, and recommended that the electricity department empanel local contractors for quicker repairs.
In response, Dhavalikar informed the House that cable faults have traditionally been repaired by licensed electrical contractors. However, the department has now procured a single-phase, fully automatic van-mounted underground cable fault locator equipped with Tan Delta and Partial Discharge technology.
This equipment will enhance the ability to locate faults in low/medium/high voltage power cables up to 33KV and assess the condition of underground cables.
Dhavalikar highlighted that the van-mounted cable fault locator will significantly improve the speed of fault detection and restoration of the power supply. Additionally, the department plans to acquire another cable fault-locating van next year.
He acknowledged that repairing cable joints is a specialised task and stated that the department plans to establish an in-house team for this purpose in the future. The minister assured that the issue of underground cable faults in Margao and other areas would be addressed before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
The discussion on this issue also saw participation from Curtorim MLA Aleixo Lourenco, St Cruz MLA Rudolf Fernandes, Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar, and St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar.
