Thunderstorm warning: Control room opened for HS examination

MP | 16 Mar 2023 | Kolkata: Power minister Aroop Biswas on Thursday held a video conference with the power department officials in all the districts and issued necessary instructions in the wake of a prediction of thunderstorms over the weekend. Leave has been cancelled for the employees till March 28. 

The minister pointed out that the leave of the employees has been cancelled till the end of Higher Secondary examinations. Biswas has directed the power officials to remain alert so that power disruption does not take place at a time when Higher Secondary exams are going on. He also took stock of the preparedness of the department officials in the districts so that repair works can be done in the minimum possible time in case of any damage by the thunderstorms. 

A control room has been opened at Vidyut Bhawan so that any emergency can be dealt with more effectively. The control room numbers are 8900793503 / 8900793504. Additional chief secretary of the power department Suresh Kumar, WBSEDCL chairman Santanu Basu were among the officials who were also present in the meeting. 

The minister further said that power supply was majorly disrupted on Wednesday evening in the districts like Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar after thunderstorms lashed several parts of the North Bengal region. 

An additional workforce was deployed to combat the situation in North Bengal. According to the minister, more than 300 employees and senior officials were engaged to restore power supply in North Bengal districts after a hail storm hit. 

Around 100 electric poles fell in North Bengal while trees fell on power lines in around 250 places. Power lines were snapped. “Insulators were damaged due to lightning in many places,” said the minister. The power officials in five North Bengal districts have done a commendable job by combating the situation, the minister added. 

Incidentally, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) predicted that there is a ‘high chance’ of two isolated spells of thunderstorms in the city between March 18 and 20. A hailstorm affected several parts of north Bengal on Wednesday. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/thunderstorm-warning-control-room-opened-511883