With 6 months to go, Games village gets dedicated power sub-station

The Commonwealth Games Village got a dedicated power sub-station on Sunday, exactly six months away from the showpiece event, to make the uber-luxurious residential complex free of power cuts.

Built at a cost of Rs 40-crore, in a record 13 months, the substation will supply around 50 megawatts to the Village and to about two lakh residents in nearby areas.

“This grid has been designed keeping any eventuality in mind and to ensure that not a single power cut affects the Village,” Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after inaugurating the substation. “It draws power from Delhi’s power stations as well as the Northern grid. There is no chance for failure as it operates on a dual system.”

With the power supply in place, the Games Village is now closer to being ready for use.

To be doubly sure that the power supply to the Village stays uninterrupted, the grid has two heavy-duty transformers — one primary and the other as a back up — to take care of any contingency. “We have also made sure that the substation complex is environment-friendly, in keeping with the theme of the Games,” said Ramesh Narayanan, chief executive officer, BSES Yamuna, which supplies power to East Delhi, including the Village. Recently, Congress Members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly had demanded that they all be given flats in the Village at highly discounted rates.

Finance Minister A.K. Walia said the new grid would be beneficial to East Delhi areas.

“Post Games, this grid will boost power supply to Shakarpur, Laxmi Nagar, Mayur Vihar and adjoining areas,” he said.

Adjacent to the Akshardham temple, the substation complex has been made of fly ash and 30 per cent of the area has a green cover.

“We also have a water harvesting system in there,” Narayanan said.

The water harvesting system has been designed with expertise from TERI and has a capacity to harvest 14,000 litres of rainwater.