NETC's 400 kV Palatana- Silchar- Bongaigaon Double Circuit Corridor in North Eastern part of India – Challenges & Their Mitigation

In India power utilities are under tremendous pressure to meet the growing demand for power as the country is on a firm footing on the development trajectory to become one of the largest economies of the world. To meet the increasing energy demand coupled with the fact that the load centers being far away from generating stations, transmission lines are to be constructed and maintained in all types of terrain. The task of maintaining these transmission lines becomes very arduous and dificult, if the terrain is hilly with steep gradients covered by dense tropical rainforest bordering river valleys. Such type of terrain poses many threats to the security of the Transmission system which entails various cost-effective and innovative techniques of maintenance protocol.

North East Transmission Company (NETC) is entrusted with maintenance of its 662.8 Km, 400 kV Double Circuit transmission corridor through similar dificult hilly & dense forest terrain of the States of Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam in the North Eastern Region (NER) of India. Some of the forest terrains are also inhabited by wild animals mainly Elephants & Leopards. The transmission line crosses two major rivers namely Brahmaputra & Barak. The mighty Brahmaputra river with its source in Tibet, flows down through the steep Southern Himalayas with great speed and flows with huge discharge & speed during monsoon season from its numerous tributaries causing erosion, flash floods and siltation leading to frequent changes of its course. Similarly, the Barak river also causes flood and erosion. The terrain consists of various types of soil viz., laterite, alluvial, loamy etc. and is prone to sinking and landslides due to steep gradient and soil characteristics. The transmission lines traverses through terrain with the high rainfall, wind zones of V & VI and high Isokeraunic level. Increasing threat from insurgency adds up to the multiplicity of problems.

This paper strives to describe in detail various types of challenges being faced and their mitigation measures adopted by NETC.