PSEB kickstarts rural project
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 21
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has finally started the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikarn Yojana (RGGVY) under which board will provide electricity connections to 4.05 lakh rural households, including 1.49 lakh below poverty line (BPL) families, in the state.

Notably, this Central scheme to provide free power connections to about four lakh houses in the state was first launched in 2005. It was to be funded under the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (APDRP).

But in the wake of the fact that the work began in October 2008, more than 75 per cent of BPL families have taken electricity connections on their own.

Now, after so much delay, the PSEB has decided to take the project to its logical conclusion. PSEB chairman Harinder Singh Brar made the announcement, disclosing that the project would cost Rs 184 crore and the scope of work included installation of 7,014 (25 KVA) transformers, erection of 3,535 km 11KV line and 2,037 km low tension line. He added that the process has already commenced and 16,748 connections, along with infrastructure, has been released to BPL families.

PSEB officials revealed that of the Rs 184-crore requirement, they had already received funds amounting to Rs 57 crore, out of which Rs 10.46 crores had been spent. “The work is likely to be completed by February 2010,” the chairman said.

Meanwhile, Brar informed that in view of some of the Panchayat land not being irrigated due to lack of water for irrigation, the board has allowed the Panchayat to avail more than one tubewell connections for its land for irrigation purpose.