Chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat has commended the efforts of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) for completing the undergrounding of power cables to Linde India’s liquid oxygen plant here in record time. He said that the state government is committed to ensuring that oxygen plants are able to carry on production to the full capacity considering the oxygen requirement in the nation amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is pertinent to mention here that currently, Linde India produces about 160 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen daily at its Selaqui plant in Dehradun. Information was received about production being hampered at this plant between April 23 and May 8 due to five trippings and one instance of under-voltage in the 33 KV line powering the plant.

It was found that garbage and animal waste on three kilometre stretch of the power line attracts various birds due to which bird fault was the main reason causing tripping in this line. On the CM’s directions to resolve the issue at the earlier, Power secretary Radhika Jha inspected the site and directed immediate removal of the garbage. The district administration was directed to ensure that no new garbage is dumped in the area.

It was also decided to undertake undergrounding of three kilometres of the line for which five kilometres of cable was to be laid. Approval was secured from the Centre for the work costing about Rs 3.2 crore with a time frame of seven days being fixed for its completion.

The work was started on May 9 and completed on May 15. Work was executed on a war footing to complete it in record time with the CM according special approval for all aspects of the work. The task force formed by the centre to review tripping in power supply to oxygen plants, found the decisions and works done by the state to be right.