The sudden appearance of a religious structure in a demarcated area proposed for laying a 220-kV line to provide adequate power to Vizhinjam International Sea Port Ltd. has put the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in a tight spot.
The KSEB drew up a plan to draw power from the substation at Kattakada to the Gas Insulated substation (GIS) at Vizhinjam, and indentified the route for laying the 220-kV line and its towers. The route for laying the line, an official with the KSEB said, was fixed after studying various alternatives. Two years ago, the KSEB laid stone marks where the towers were proposed to be constructed to draw the line to the GIS. However, during an inspection last month, it came to the notice of the authorities that the stone marks were replaced with a religious structure. The official told The Hindu that the board had submitted a petition to the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) under Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. ADM V.R. Vinod said that it appeared to be clear case of violation and had given “oral” instruction to the KSEB to go ahead with the construction after removing the “illegal structure.”
The KSEB, on its part, said it could not act based on oral instructions since it was a sensitive subject. “The same person behind the construction of the structure created a ruckus when we tried to do soil-testing before constructing another tower at Vizhinjam,” the official said.
