Guwahati: The Assam govt has approved the ‘Central Guwahati Underground Cabling Project’ to strengthen the city’s power distribution network. Officials said the project would be funded from savings under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) Loss Reduction Project.The Rs 177.46-crore project will cover around 18km across five priority corridors — Paltanbazar, AT Road, MG Road, GS Road up to GMCH and GS Road from Bhangagarh to Dispur secretariat, an official from Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) said.“It will involve shifting the existing 33 kV, 11 kV and LT overhead power network underground,” the official added.CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, taking to ‘X’, said, “Your sky pictures deserve the most aesthetic views. With the Guwahati Underground Cabling Project, we’re decluttering the skyline and taking the wires underground, creating a cleaner, more organised cityscape.”The decision was taken at a state-level Distribution Reforms Committee (DRC) meeting, which focused on advancing Assam’s efforts towards a stronger, more reliable and future-ready power distribution system, with particular emphasis on the proposed underground cabling project for central Guwahati.“The underground network is expected to improve the reliability and continuity of power supply, with provisions to reroute electricity in the event of faults and thereby limit the impact of outages. It will also reduce the network’s vulnerability to storms and flooding, enhance public safety and minimise overhead power-line clutter along key urban corridors,” said Ravi Kota, chief secretary of Assam, taking to social media.Designed to accommodate projected annual load growth of around 8%, the upgraded network is aimed at strengthening the city’s power infrastructure to meet future demand.Kota directed APDCL to coordinate with the traffic police, Guwahati Municipal Corporation, Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and other concerned agencies. He also called for statutory clearances to be completed in a time-bound manner and for the project to be executed with proper traffic-management and public-safety measures to minimise inconvenience to commuters and residents.
