(FE)
As many as 52 electricity transmission towers collapsed between October 2016 and March 2018, according to the latest report by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which also points out rampant irregularities on the part of transmission companies leading to collapsing of the assets. Of the 52 dysfunctional towers, 41 failed within five years of commissioning. Most of the failed towers belonged to state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), followed by Sterlite Power, L&T, Adani Transmission and Essel Infra.
PGCIL, which owns more than 37% of the transmission lines in the country and ferries about 50% of the total electricity generated, recorded 38 tower failures in the aforementioned period. Sterlite and L&T lost five towers each while one tower belonging to Adani and Essel, respectively, failed.
The report noted that disregarding the recommendations of the standing committee, PGCIL had been clamping and clipping additional component of towers, instead of replacing existing parts with more sturdy substitutes. Since 2007, the maximum number of annual tower failures (163) were recorded in 2014, while the lowest (12) occurred in 2011.
