New Delhi, Oct 26 (KNN) Utilities’ transformers are failing too frequently these days due to their dubious quality, opening an opportunity for non-empanelled workshops to get into the business of transformer repair.
 
The lure for such workshops is costly copper wire inside transformers which they can steal during repair.
 
By dangling the bait of discounted charges, workshops are able to get locals to hand over burnt transformers for repair to them.
 
This malpractice came to the fore recently when during a raid by utility officials; three workshops in the Shamli district of West UP were found in possession of at least a dozen burnt transformers which were brought to them by locals for repair.
 
These workshops are located in the Qadargarh village on the highway near the Thana Bhavan town area of the district.
 
As per utility rule, burnt transformers can be repaired either in utility’s own workshops or sent to workshops empanelled with the utility. But they cannot be handed over to non-empanelled private workshops for repair in any case.
 
These private workshops were stealing copper wire in the transformers brought to them for repair, which reduced equipment’s durability. UPPCL officials were concerned over growing complaints in recent months that transformers coming to workshops weighed much less than their rated weight.
 
While recovery of burnt transformers from private workshops is a cause for great concern, what is even more worrying is the root cause of this problem – the rising frequency of transformers exploding due to reasons attributed to use of inferior quality of steel imported from overseas.
 
Quality of transformers installed in villages leaves a lot to be desired. The reason is, utility officials do not care much about performance of transformers used in villages as there is little pressure on them to ensure uninterrupted power supply there.
 
So it is the locals who have to bear the responsibility of getting transformers repaired whenever the equipment fail.

Scrap-grade material is finding widespread use in transformers as it helps manufacturers jack up their profits, though at the cost of utility and public safety. The utilities’ practice of taking supplies from the lowest bidder is also a roadblock to curbing use of low-quality equipment and material which are playing havoc with human lives and property as witnessed in the recent spate of accidents in Meerut which left one UPPCL lineman dead.
 
Thanks to connivance of procurement officials, unscrupulous vendors are not only able to push their junk equipment to utilities but also getting increasingly audacious to avoid responsibility for failed transformers, as evidenced by the recent commercial dispute involving Victory, a transformer vendor and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd, over transformers supplied by the former.
 
Victory refused to take the responsibility when transformers supplied by it to the Rajasthan utility stopped working after installation. This despite the fact that failed equipment was under performance guarantee.
 
Not only that, Victory also dragged the utility to court when the latter held back payment over non-fulfilment of the key contractual term.
 
It is also learnt that a significant number of 160 MVA transformers supplied by IMP Powers to the Rajathan utility failed for technical defects. The utility had to send back burnt transformers to the vendor for repair. However, interruption in power supply due to transformer failure not only dents utilities’ credibility and but also places a strain on their financial resources. (KNN/ NM)