Transco CMD Prabhakar Rao says 'Overproduction theory baseless' in Srisailam fire incident

Chairman and Managing Director of Transco and Genco D Prabhakar Rao on Sunday said power production at the 900 MW station had been reduced as there was sufficient power available in the State. Rubbishing speculation that the fire mishap at the Left Bank Hydro Electric Station of Srisailam project was the result of overproduction said the CMD.

In a statement here, Prabhakar Rao said the hydel power station was functioning perfectly for the past one month, producing 128 MW of hydel power every day. “The incident was very unfortunate. We lost nine people including seven engineers. I reached the spot within hours and we tried to rescue them, but in vain,” he said, adding that the Electricity Department had to seek the help of NDRF and CISF after their initial efforts to bring out the people stuck inside failed.

“When power supply to the hydel station was switched off by the load despatch centre in Hyderabad, it was enveloped in darkness and the smoke inside absorbed all the oxygen in the generating station. We tried our best to clear the smoke, but couldn’t. When power was switched off, the



ventilation stopped and the emergency exit also could not be opened,” he explained.

He said the department would look into the reasons as to why the maintenance team failed to trip the unit when they discovered fire in the control panel. “We have constituted a technical committee to look into that aspect,” he said, adding that it was the power dispatch unit in Hyderabad that shut off the incoming power as it could not be tripped internally. He also ruled out entry of water into the power station from outside.

The CMD said the department would thoroughly investigate the reasons behind the accident. He said that in the past too, 30 people lost their lives when a boiler exploded in the NTPC thermal unit in Tamil Nadu.

“The State government has constituted a CID inquiry to go deep into the reasons of the accident. The government has already announced ex-gratia to the kin of the victims, and Genco will also come up with its own financial package for the kin of the deceased,” he said.

He further said that other States had not declared ex-gratia in such cases.