OREANDA-NEWS. January 17, 2012. An unusually heavy snowfall was experienced in the mountainous areas of J&K state on 06.01.2012. Snowfall recorded at some of the major places was around 3.5 ft at Batote, 6 ft at Patnitop, 4.5 ft at Banihal and 1.5 ft at Ramban (which is very unusual as it does not snow in Ramban normally). Because of the snowfall all the four lines as mentioned below broke down: 400 KV Wagoora-Kishenpur Ckt 2(PowerGrid) 1926 Hrs. 400 KV Wagoora-Kishenpur Ckt 1(PowerGrid) 2014 Hrs. 220 Kishenpur-Mirbazar (J&K PDD) 1810 Hrs. 220 Kishenpur-Ramban (J&K PDD) 1937 Hrs.

With the breaking down of these lines Power supply to entire valley already reeling under extreme cold conditions was snapped. POWERGRID immediately rose to the occasion and with the help of M.D. J&K PDC Sh. Basharat A. Dhar, Sh Sudhanshu Pandey, Principal Secy Power (J&K) and Sh. Pawan Kotwal, Div. Commissioner Jammu, a helicopter was arranged on 07.01.2012 which ferried POWERGRID staff and fitters / technicians in two sorties to Chanderkot. The teams were blocked at Seri because of land slides. On the second day teams of Engineers and technicians were dropped by helicopter at location 205-206 who without caring for their lives rectified the fault on both the circuits in extreme hostile conditions.

Problems were also resolved at location 194-195 by POWERGRID teams and the lines were charged at 1846Hrs (ckt-2) and 1932 Hrs (ckt-1) on 07.01.2012.Restoration of both the circuits of Kishenpur-Wagoora line was completed on around 1000 Mega watts of electricity was made available to the Valley as was before the snowfall.

 The whole of the operation was being monitored at highest level in POWERGRID, as its Chairman –Managing Director, Sh. R.N.Nayak was himself coordinating with CMD NHPC and other key state officials. Executive Director NRTS-II Sh. S.C.Singh was keeping the close look at the developments and keeping Media also informed on the latest developments in the restoration work.With this prompt, planned and dedicated act, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., (POWERGRID) has once again proved that it is always ready to serve the nation and the country men with grit and determination.