BSES Delhi helpline for alert on digging to check outages

Delhi electricity distribution company (discom) BSES on Friday launched a helpline for its consumers and civic agencies to alert about digging in their areas, which is a major cause of power outages in the capital, a release said.

BSES said that receiving information about such digging would help the discom take necessary measures to prevent damage to electricity cables and consequent disruption in power supply.

"Our analysis has shown that unplanned digging (for road repair or to lay cables/pipelines) is a major cause for scores of outages across south, west, east and central Delhi. On an average, around 800-1,000 underground cables get damaged annually," it said.

To prevent any such eventuality, BSES said "all a civic agency and its contractors have to do is inform BSES Rajdjani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) before starting excavation /digging on any corridor".

"For the benefit of the civic agencies and RWAs (residents' welfare associations), BSES has launched 'Dial n Dig' dedicated 24 x 7 helplines. For BRPL (south and west Delhi), the number is 1800 3000 9707, and for BYPL (central and east Delhi) it is 39997376," it added.

BSES discoms have become the first in the city to set up helplines to prevent digging-related outages, which can also be a safety hazard for passersby and residents, it said, it will urge RWAs to inform BSES if they come across any digging in their area.

It noted that electricity cables are often inadvertently damaged or punctured while laying of cables and pipelines by civic agencies, telecom operators and their contractors.

"As part of the campaign, we plan to educate civic agencies to sensitise their officials, contractors and office bearers about the importance of informing BSES before undertaking digging," a BSES spokesperson said.

--IANS

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