Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka Charts El Niño Response Strategy for Telangana Power Sector

Hyderabad: Telangana's Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has mandated the state's Energy Department to formulate comprehensive contingency measures in response to anticipated El Niño-related drought and increased power consumption patterns. At a Saturday review meeting held at TGSPDCL Corporate Office, he called for the development of backup operational strategies to guarantee consistent and reliable electricity provision across the state.

Energy Special Chief Secretary Navin Mittal and Finance Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania participated in the deliberations during the departmental assessment.

Uninterrupted Supply for Essential Services

The Deputy Chief Minister emphasised that electricity continuity must be maintained for municipal water supply infrastructure and farming operations. He instructed departmental officials to implement anticipatory steps to mitigate emerging power sector challenges and directed DISCOMs to intensify collection efforts and reinforce fiscal accountability mechanisms. Additionally, Bhatti Vikramarka ordered the recovery of outstanding electricity payments owed by government agencies.

Solar Expansion and Infrastructure Modernisation

The Energy Department has been tasked with executing a phased rollout of solar installations at all Anganwadi centres. The Deputy Chief Minister instructed TGSPDCL to systematically upgrade all electrical substations, drawing on the Midjil substation in Mahabubnagar district as a benchmark for modernisation standards.

In areas facing space constraints—specifically Kondapur, Gachibowli and Madhapur—Bhatti Vikramarka proposed that the Energy Department collaborate with the Municipal Department to construct substations beneath elevated highway structures.

Expanded Emergency Response Network

The Deputy Chief Minister directed a statewide expansion of the 'Power Ambulance' initiative, modelled after the 108 emergency medical response framework. He commended the GPS tracking integration across 168 vehicles operating through 21 operational circles and acknowledged the rapid intervention capabilities enabled by the command and control facility at Erragadda.

TGSPDCL CMD Jyothi Buddhaprakash outlined the corporation's operational reforms and social welfare programmes implemented over the preceding 30 months. He highlighted that the feeder-DTR-consumer mapping system has facilitated accelerated fault identification, expedited service restoration, enhanced complaint resolution processes, and enabled precise energy consumption analysis.