Solan: Kasauli residents troubled by unannounced power cuts

Solan: Unscheduled and frequent power cuts in the Kasauli area have become a cause of inconvenience for local residents. The growing hotel industry is putting a burden on the existing power infrastructure, resulting in hardships for residents. With very little addition to the power infrastructure in the last several decades, the overloaded lines frequently trip and cause power cuts. The problem for the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) is that a single line supplies power to the area from Solan through Dharampur. The Kasauli Planning Area, spread over an area of ​​35 km, has witnessed substantial growth of hospitality units in the last two and a half decades. Around 50 new tourism projects are coming up on the Kasauli-Dharampur road. The situation is the same on the Kimmughat-Chakki Mor, Chabbal-Garkhal, Kanda-Dharampur, Dharampur-Subathu roads. This is despite the fact that on an average 40 to 65 per cent of the occupancy is in the large and small hotels in the Kasauli Planning Area. The hospitality units draw at least three mega volt ampere to four mega volt ampere of power per day. The coming up of more units will put more pressure on the power lines, an HPSEBL official said. However, there has been no corresponding increase in the infrastructure. Residents have to bear the brunt of power cuts from time to time as the existing system has failed to handle the increasing power load. Currently, power is drawn from a 33 kV substation in Solan, but since its conductor has been utilised to its optimum capacity, more power cannot be drawn. This has led to the need to set up a new substation at Dharampur. Though two substations of 66 kV and 33 kV capacity were proposed years ago, they could not be constructed due to lack of adequate land. At least 2 to 3 bighas of land will be required to set up a 66 kV substation, while 1 to 2 bighas of land will be required for a 33 kV substation. Vikas Gupta, Executive Engineer, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited, Parwanoo, said that about two bighas of land has been identified in Dharampur and the matter of its transfer is awaiting Cabinet approval. Land has also been identified in Parwanoo by the transmission wing to further enhance the power infrastructure. He said that after the substation at Dharampur is established, the power line will be extended to Gadhkhal. This will ensure availability of adequate power in the Kasauli area. However, since the project is funded by the Centre, it will take about a year to start after receiving funds and completing various formalities.