Headlines
Modi's Varanasi visit cancelled due to heavy rain
Lucknow, June 28
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's day-long visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on
Sunday was cancelled following heavy rain in the region.
Modi was
very keen to visit the region but the weather played truant, Union
Power Minister Piyush said this at a hurriedly convened press
conference.
Asked when will the prime minister be in Varanasi
next, the minister said the dates would be reworked soon by the Prime
Minister's Office.
Modi was to launch the Integrated Power
Development Scheme (IPDS), one of the flagship programmes of the power
ministry, to ensure 24x7 power for all.
Heavy rains have been
lashing the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh since Saturday. The venue of
the launch of the IPDS and another where Modi was to address a public
rally were inundated with water.
The scheme, announced in the
2014-15 union budget, is aimed at strengthening of the sub-transmission
network, metering, IT application, customer care services, provision of
solar panels and completion of the ongoing work of the Restructured
Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP).
The union government will provide budgetary support of Rs.45,800 crore over the entire implementation period of the IPDS.
Of the total amount, Rs.1,067 crore has been sanctioned for Uttar Pradesh, including Rs.572 crore for Varanasi.
The
project envisages converting area overhead lines into underground
cabling in areas around temples and ghats in Varanasi city.
The
scheme includes upgradation of electrical assets at sub-centres, lines
and distribution transformers, capacity enhancement and renewal of the
old substations and installation of roof-top solar panels in government
buildings.
The IPDS will help in reduction in aggregate technical
and commercial (AT&C) losses, establishment of IT enabled energy
accounting/ auditing system, improvement in billed energy based on
metered consumption and improvement in collection efficiency.