Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka directed officials to strengthen El Niño preparedness by planning for possible drought conditions and higher electricity demand. He asked the Energy Department to prepare alternative strategies to ensure uninterrupted and quality power supply.
He issued the directions during a review meeting of the Energy Department at the TGSPDCL Corporate Office in Hyderabad on Saturday. Energy Special Chief Secretary Navin Mittal and Finance Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania attended the meeting.
El Niño preparedness focuses on reliable power supply
Bhatti Vikramarka said the department must ensure uninterrupted electricity for drinking water schemes and agricultural activities. Accordingly, he asked officials to take proactive measures to address future challenges in the power sector.
He also instructed officials to recover electricity dues from government departments. In addition, he asked DISCOMs to strengthen financial discipline by accelerating revenue collection.
The Deputy Chief Minister directed officials to adopt advanced technologies for power distribution. Moreover, he asked them to implement a comprehensive strategy to provide quality and uninterrupted electricity to every consumer in the state.
El Niño preparedness includes solar and infrastructure expansion
Bhatti Vikramarka instructed officials to prepare a phased plan to provide solar power facilities to all Anganwadi centres. Meanwhile, he asked TGSPDCL to modernise all substations in phases by adopting the Midjil substation in Mahabubnagar district as a model.
He also suggested that the Energy Department coordinate with the Municipal Department to build substations under flyovers in Kondapur, Gachibowli and Madhapur, where land availability remains limited.
Furthermore, the Deputy Chief Minister directed officials to expand the ‘Power Ambulance’ service across the state on the lines of the 108 emergency response system. He appreciated the installation of GPS tracking in more than 168 vehicles across 21 circles and the rapid response services provided through the command and control centre at Erragadda.
TGSPDCL CMD Jyothi Buddhaprakash presented the department’s reforms, welfare initiatives and progress over the past 30 months. Finally, he said feeder-DTR-consumer mapping enabled faster fault detection, quicker power restoration, improved grievance redressal and accurate energy auditing.