Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Feb 5: Three years after it was sanctioned, the work on 10 Mega volts Ampere (MVA) power receiving station in South Kashmir’s Pampore town remains incomplete, dashing the hopes of the residents who were hoping for the end to their electricity woes.
To tackle frequent power cuts, Government-sanctioned the receiving station under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) near LPG filling station in Litterabl area of the town. Subsequently, the work was entrusted to New Delhi based firm, Krishna Electric Industries (KEI). However, the project faced disruptions right from the start, causing undue delay in its completion.
As per the officials in the PDD, the project got delayed after the local municipality claimed the ownership of the land where the station was being set up. “Soon after the work began the municipality raised objections claiming that the land belonged to them,” the official said.
He added it took the authorities over a year to settle the issues. “They demanded compensation for the fencing that had constructed around the land,” he said.
As the issue prolonged, the civil society Pampore took it on themselves to bring all the stakeholders on board. “The facility would help us in reducing the power woes of the area. So, we brought them on the same page and they settled the matter,” a local resident said.
They started the work again in summer 2019 but was put to a halt after August 5, abrogation of Article-370 and then the COVID-19 lockdown. “The project would have improved the power scenario of the area. People here are waiting for its competition, but the way work is going on, it seems people have to wait for more time,” Younis Ahmed, a local said.
The Executive Engineer PDD for Awantipora, Altaf Hussain Shah, said that the receiving station would be completed in next three-four months. “The transformers have been installed and other major works have also been done. The pending work be completed in next two-three months as work was disrupted due to snow recently,” he said.
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