Grid failure blamed on pollution, equipment
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 30
About four weeks after the major grid failure on January 2 which crippled North India, pollution emanating from industrial units and lack of installation of critical equipment on the high-tension lines have been identified as the causes by engineers who have reviewed the matter.

The failure of the northern power grid at 3 am on January 2 had left hundreds of trains stranded mid-way; it had led to tripping of all major thermal and hydro power stations in the region; and stopped work in manufacturing units leading to losses for the industry.

Such was the impact of pollution that even those lines which had anti-fog polymer insulators broke down on January 2, the review committee has been informed. All these lines where the anti-fog equipment failed were close to heavy polluting industries.

While Haryana disclosed that one of the anti-fog insulators on the Daulatabad-Luna Majra 220 kv line got punctured, three such insulators failed near Dhandari Kalan, Ludhiana, Punjab officials have said in the review committee. Separately, three more such insulators failed on the Bhakra Beas Management Board line near a dyeing unit near Ludhiana. Notably, the power grid, has mentioned that none of the new anti-fog insulators on its lines collapsed.

The Northern Regional Power Committee (NRPC) has now asked all states to review their pollution zones to find out where additional precaution is needed. The pollution-causing installations near transmission lines need to be removed, says the NRPC. Haryana, Punjab and UP have been asked to have only polymer anti-fog insulators through pollution prone areas.

Another cause attributed to the grid failure is the presence of porcelain insulators instead of anti-fog polymer insulators. It has been found that cleaning of the existing insulators was running behind schedule. Separately, sources said the power ministry has taken a serious view of the lackadaisical attitude of the states in installing under-voltage load shedding relays. This equipment shuts off a high-tension line in case the voltage drops below a certain specified level.

The Railways has been advised to make arrangements for additional supply points at Panipat and other important locations to keep the trains running in case of an emergency. The Railways has also been asked to replace all porcelain insulators of 132 kv and 220 kv lines with polymer insulators.