Power demand up by 15%, dept remains on toes

Jabalpur: With power demand in Jabalpur witnessing a nearly 15% surge amid the ongoing heatwave, the electricity department has activated an extensive contingency plan to ensure uninterrupted supply and minimise breakdowns across the city.

Officials said a high-level review meeting involving junior engineers, assistant engineers and executive engineers was held to assess load conditions on transformers, substations and 11 kV and 33 kV feeders. Possible causes of breakdowns were identified and area-wise strategies chalked out to prevent disruptions during peak summer demand.

As part of the arrangements, additional line staff have been deployed for evening and night shifts, while officers up to the assistant engineer level will remain stationed at Fuse Off Call centres from 10 pm to 6 am over the next one month to monitor complaints and coordinate emergency restoration work.

The department has also formed nearly 30 evening patrol teams that will conduct field inspections daily between 6 pm and 8:30 pm to promptly identify faults and reduce outages. Officials said area-wise consumer service centre numbers are also being shared with residents for emergencies such as snapped wires, power fluctuations and major breakdowns, apart from the central 1912 helpline.