APDCL chief general manager Abhijit Sarma Barua on Saturday claimed Assam has witnessed a significant reduction in electricity-related accidents in 2020-21.
The APDCL CGM (safety, customer relations and marketing) said the number of electricity-related accidents has decreased in the state due to a series of safety measures taken by the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) for the civilians and its employees.
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The accidents were curbed by setting up a safety, customer relations and marketing wing of the company about a year ago.
Addressing newspersons at the Bijuli Bhawan in Jorhat on Saturday, Barua said during 2019-20 Assam recorded 357 electricity-related accidents which affected the staff of the power company and the civilians.
Barua said of the 357 accidents, there were about 100 deaths.
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The CGM said in 2020-21 till date the state has recorded about 150 electricity-related mishaps out of which the number of deaths is 30 till date.
Barua informed that the company would try to bring down the accident figures to zero in the coming years.
“We have initiated a number of measures like upgrading distribution networks, immediate replacement of poles, lines, systems that were found to be in poor conditions and raising of the height of high tension power cables,” Barua said.
Barua informed that among a slew of new services introduced by the company for customer benefit from this month (January 2021) was the provision of applying for new power connection online.
He said by logging into the company website (apdcl.org), any potential customer can apply for a connection (up to 25 Kilowatts) and all necessary details regarding the process like documents to be submitted online are available on the website.
The payment can be done online and applicants will be able to track the status of their applications, the CGM said.
Informing about the launch of another customer-friendly service from January 2021, Barua said agents selected and authorized by APDCL will collect money from the residences of customers and issue machine-generated receipts instantly.
He said the particular service – already started in Demow and Moran in Upper Assam and some other places across the state – was aimed to cater in remote areas and to those customers who faced certain difficulties to come to cash counters at company offices.
Barua said he has instructed strictly to take calls of customers and any grievance could be informed at the toll-free customer care number 1912 (24×7) and emailed at [email protected].
He assured that there will be an immediate response from both these means.
The CGM said the current power requirement of Assam is 1800 MW during peak hours and APDCL could manage it and hence there were no power cuts.
He said there were shutdowns due to repairing and maintenance works only.
Out of 1800 MW requirement, the APDCL could generate 210 MW from its three generating units at Namrup, Lakwa and Karbi Anglong, the GGM disclosed.