Karnataka - Bijapur   

Power supply set to improve in Bijapur city

Bijapur: Ramesh Jigajinagi, MP, said that Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has agreed to include Bijapur city under the Restructured - Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) so as to improve the power distribution system in the city, and provide and maintain new equipment to Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (Hescom).

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Mr. Jigajinagi said the Power Ministry had introduced R-APDRP to focus on establishment of baseline data and fixation of accountability, besides reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses and adoption of information technology.

The project areas of R-APDRP will be towns and cities with a population of over 30,000. Besides the cities and towns, rural areas with heavy loads requiring feeder segregation will also be included in the project.

Mr. Jigajinagi said some time back a proposal had been sent to the Power Ministry to include Bijapur city under R-APDRP.

Now that the Power Ministry has agreed to bring the city under the R-APDRP, Mr. Jigajinagi said that it will help check power theft and loss during distribution. At present, 19 per cent of the power was being lost owing to various technical reasons. With the implementation of the R-APDRP, power loss is expected to be reduced by eight per cent, he added. Mr. Jigajinagi said that under the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the Union Government had sanctioned Rs. 45 crore for development of 121 km stretch of road in Bijapur district.

A proposal has also been submitted to the Centre demanding approval for the ninth phase of PMGSY in the district, he said adding that tenders would be called shortly for the construction of four-lane highway from Bijapur to Chitradurga. On the State Government’s move to woo Dalit voters, Mr. Jigajinagi said: “When the national leaders of the BJP are trying all means to take Dalit voters into confidence, the State leaders of the party are neglecting the Dalits”. The neglected Dalits will teach a lesson to the BJP in the State, he added.

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