Power supply restored in Doda-Kishtwar after two days

Power supply in the twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar was restored in the wee hours today after remaining suspended for two days following damage to a 132-KV transmission tower in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior official said.
"Power supply to the hilly districts was restored around 0230 hours today due to hectic efforts by the concerned agencies," the official of Power Development Department (PDD) said.
The tower manned by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) at Thard village of Udhampur, 80 km from here, tilted from its original position on Tuesday afternoon, snapping power supply to hundreds of villages in the twin districts.

Soon after, NHPC swung its men and machines into action and worked round-the-clock to ensure early restoration of the power supply.
The NHPC had set a deadline of 1830 hours yesterday for completion of the job but due to several technical issues, the complete restoration was possible only in the wee hours today, the official said.
The tower apparently titled due to heavy rains which hit the region intermittently over the past one week, triggering a number of landslides in the area, the official said.

One of the landslides also uprooted a 220-KV Kishanpur- Pampore transmission tower in the area on July 31, the restoration of which would cost around Rs 50 lakh.

However, PDD sources said many towers along the Udhampur-Banihal stretch of Jammu-Srinagar national highway have become vulnerable due to the ongoing widening and upgradation work by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The PDD wants the government to look into this issue on priority basis, form a team of experts to inspect all affected towers on the highway and prepare a plan to safeguard these towers to avert further losses, the sources said.