HT lines near schools: 4.9k not shifted yet

By Nischith N | NT

Bengaluru: In response to the Karnataka High Court’s recent direction to shift all high-tension electricity lines passing through school premises, the power utilities in the state have so far moved only one-third such cables.

As per the latest report, the power utilities have shifted 1,783 cables out of the 6,886 spots across the state. The high-tension wire poses a major threat to schools and a health hazard to those living in its vicinity.

The court had passed the order after a 16-year-old boy got electrocuted when the flagpole he was trying to erect touched an electricity line at Karikere village in Tumakuru district on Independence Day.

The overhead high-voltage power lines near schools pose a danger to students. Rekha, a teacher from a government school, said, “Fortunately there hasn’t been any incident so far. We are always tense because of this overhead high-tension wire. What if some mishaps take place? School children come to this place to play and there are many possibilities of some accidents. Also there are many other buildings which are very close to these lines. No checks have happened so far as the state government has to take a call and not the corporation. First, the coordination committee including officials of both agencies must meet and solve the problem” says Rekha said.

As per the Indian Electricity Act, buildings should maintain a horizontal distance of 1.2 metres from 11kV lines and 4 metres from 66kV lines. This buffer zone has been violated in many cases.

According to the reports, the electricity authority, which includes all ESCOMs, has identified 6,886 spots with high-tension wire passing over the educational institutions. The government has released Rs 114.50 crore and the electricity department claims that the remaining 4,997 cables will be shifted in a few days.

“The fund has been released by the government to electricity supply companies in the State to shift all the wires at educational institution premises. As per the government direction few have been shifted and remaining will be done in a few days. About other private or residential buildings, our job is to fix it. It is the local corporation’s job to ensure that houses that are constructed in such areas have only the ground floor. They gave permission to construct the house. They knew about the danger and yet they did not do anything about it” said a Bescom senior official, on condition of anonymity.

As per the data, Bescom tops the list with 2,299 spots and 157 spots have been cleared. CESCOM (Mysuru) has identified 881 spots and 809 have been cleared, MESCOM (Mangaluru) has identified 1,323 spots and cleared 116 spots. HESCOM (Hubli) 1,721 spots have been identified and 228 spots have been cleared.