Minister for Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare and Education, Sakeena Itoo, today chaired a virtual meeting to review the power sector scenario of Kulgam district.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Kulgam, Athar Amir Khan; Chief Engineer distribution KPDCL, Aaquib Sultana; Superintending Engineer KPDCL Kulgam; Executive Engineers and other concerned officers.

 During the meeting, Sakeena Itoo emphasised the need for maintaining efficient power supply to address the concerns of public, especially during the ongoing harsh winter season. She directed the concerned officials to ensure power supply as per the schedule so that the people’s needs are met.

The Minister further asked the officers to maintain transparency in power schedules and ensure timely communication to public regarding outages or disruptions. “Power supply is a basic necessity, especially during winters and we need to address issues related to it promptly,” Sakeena asserted.

Taking note of frequent breakdown of transformers during peak load hours, Sakeena Itoo instructed the officers to maintain adequate buffer stock of transformers and other essential equipments to handle exigencies. “Establish a swift replacement and repair mechanism for transformers to minimise disruptions and mitigate impact of power failures, particularly in rural and remote areas”, Sakeena maintained.

While reviewing progress on Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in the district, the Minister asked the officers to expedite pending maintenance and upgradation works on the power infrastructure across the district. She highlighted the need for long-term planning and a robust strategy to address recurring issues in the power sector.

Sakeena Itoo further asked the officers for augmentation of receiving stations in the district as the existing receiving stations are overloaded. She directed the officers to upgrade and increase number of receiving stations in the district under RDSS scheme.

While reviewing several issues raised by general public of the district, the Minister called upon the officers for reduction of sanctioned load to people living in far off areas as they face frequent electricity cuts due to adverse weather conditions. She further advised the officers to register their power connections as per the electricity utilised so that the burden of electricity bills on them is reduced.

During the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner Kulgam briefed the Minister about the overall power scenario of the district.