Disaster Resilient Power Infrastructure To Boost Odisha’s Fight Against Cyclones

Disaster Resilient Power Infrastructure To Boost Odisha’s Fight Against Cyclones

The Government of Odisha has decided to invest and develop power infrastructure that is disaster resilient. The infrastructure will be put up in cyclone-prone coastal districts of the state and the state will invest Rs 19,000 crore to strengthen its disaster management capabilities. This will fasten the state to get back up and running immediately after a cyclone. 

The new infrastructure will be built across nine districts in two phases over the next three years after getting the nod from the central government. In the first phase, Rs 11,000 crores will be spent while in the second phase there will be an investment of Rs 8,000 crores. It will help in quick restoration of power supply and will also reduce the chances of accidents. It will also cater to the growth of demand and contain the extent of transmission and distribution loss.

On Thursday, the government decided that four districts i.e., Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore will be the first to get the new infrastructure in the first phase of the development. In the second phase, the power infrastructure will be developed in five districts and they are Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Ganjam and Gajapati.

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday in which the decision was taken. Various facets of the plan were considered and the progress made so far was reviewed during the meeting. Tripathy directed the concerned departments to expedite and implement the development of the infrastructure on a priority basis. 

He also directed GRIDCO and Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) to form a think tank that will add expertise on technical, financial, quality monitoring, advocacy and regulative issues of the various projects under the plan. All four discoms were advised to participate in the think tank. 

“As the new resilient power infrastructure will be designed to save lakhs and crores of rupees of losses in the form of public property due to the increasing frequency and intensity of cyclones, the work will be prioritised on mission mode,” informed the Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra.

Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena suggested during the meeting that the overhead cabling and poles should be made resilient enough to withstand wind speeds and gusts up to 300 kmph. He further informed that the highest recorded wind speed in the South Asian region is 315 kmph.

It was decided that underground cabling would be done in cities, towns and other urban areas whereas cyclone-resistant overhead cabling would be done in rural areas and bare conductors would be converted into insulated and bunched conductors. 

In the last couple of decades, Odisha has been battered with cyclones more frequently than ever in its history. The intensity of the cyclones has also been increasing with every passing year. At the same time, the state has developed its disaster management and recovery capabilities for which it has been recognised the world over.