POWERGRID Lightens up the remote villages on Chushul Valley&Tangste in the UT Ladakh under PMDP
In a significant development towards making electricity accessible in the remotest parts of the country, Power Grid Corporation of India, Limited (POWERGRID) on 17th July 2023 completed the Rural electrification network in Chushul Valley habitations touching to Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in Durbuk block of Leh Ladakh. The network involves completion of overhead HT/LT network in four (04) border Village habitations of Chibra, Satoh, Kherapullu & Parma coming under Village :- Kargyam of Durbuk Block. POWERGRID executed this work as part of the consultancy work being assigned by Ladakh PDD under the centrally sponsored scheme of PMDP.
POWERGRID established an HT network of 16.896 Ckm and LT distribution network of 0.9 Ckm involving a total of 436 Poles in addition to 05 Distribution Transformers of 100 KVA capacity each. By virtue of this network, 01 Village habitation-Chibra was successfully electrified through State run DG System while the Overhead network of other Village habitations stands completed & will require underground cable laying in a stretch of nearly 10.55 Kms due to Wildlife reserve, the case of which is under process of award at Ladakh PDD level.
Rural habitations falling under Village Kargyam are located at a distance of more than 140 Kms from the district head-quarters of Leh. These habitations fall in Chusul Valley which is just few miles away from the LAC touching with China. These remote hamlets are a home to more than 107 households & by virtue of this network, habitation Chibra received electricity for the first time while as other Villages will also be able to receive the same very soon after completion of UG cable link.
Sub-Zero temperature of Chushul Valley even during summers, transportation of men & material through highest mountain pass of Chang-La (Altitude -17688 feet) which intermittently remains blocked due to inclement weather and above all time constraints of Scheme closure were some of the major challenges which POWERGRID had to overcome to achieve this historical feat for the people of these border Village habitations near to LAC.
Earlier on13th July 2023, POWERGRID had successfully electrified 02 remote habitations of Aerong and Pilasalsal falling in Village :- Tangste under Durbuk block of Leh District under the centrally sponsored scheme of PMDP.
For achieving this milestone, POWERGRID established an HT network of 9.5 Ckm involving 215 11 kV ST Poles and LT distribution network of 1.529 Ckm involving 41, 8-meter LT Poles & 03 Distribution Transformers (02- 16KVA & 01- 25 KVA capacity)
Located at a distance of more than 100 Kms from the district head-quarters of Leh, the Village habitations of Aerong and Pilasalsal are a home to more than 45 households. Earlier, the households of these hamlets were without electricity and were using small solar set-ups to get the electricity for limited period of day. As Power Supply being fed through conventional DG Set was available only up to Eiarth Village. POWERGRID established the network beyond Eiarth Village and these 02 remote Village habitations were electrified for the first time.
Tangste Village is approachable through Chang-La pass which stands to be worlds one of the highest mountain passes with an altitude of 17688 feet above mean sea level. Due to sub-zero temperature and continuous blocking of this pass during harsh winters, the work in Tangste Village was possible only from May-Sept. After receiving the Wildlife clearance in Oct-2022, the work in Tangste Village was taken-up in May-2023.
The major challenge in the execution of this challenging task was to assure continuous supply of men & material at site within the shortest frame of time and that too through the mountain pass of Chang-La. However, despite terrain difficulties, harsh weather conditions and above all time constraints, POWERGRID true to its character, completed this task to let the dream of these Villagers come true.
Under PMDP Scheme, POWERGRID has so far electrified a total of 20 remote Villages in addition to 66/11 kV Chsuchot , 33/11 kV Pinchmik SS and its associated Incoming/Outgoing Lines being already dedicated to people of Ladakh UT .
POWER GRID CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED is a Maharatna Enterprise under Ministry of Power having its regional headquarters of Northern Region-II at Jammu. POWERGRID is engaged in inter-state bulk power transmission. POWERGRID has 174,625 ckm of transmission lines, 274 Sub-stations and more than 508,352 MVA of transformation capacity. With the adoption of latest technological tools and techniques, enhanced use of automation and digital solutions, POWERGRID has been able to maintain average transmission system availability >99%. POWERGRID performance has been consistently Excellent by achieving very difficult measurable parameters which are set in MoU signed with Ministry of Power, Government of India.
POWERGRID, Northern Region -II with headquarter in Jammu is having its Transmission System spread over in the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, parts of Haryana and UT of Chandigarh, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
