Lok Sabha Question No. 2217 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-04
Subject: Collapse of Electricity Transmission Towers
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Bidyut Baran Mahato, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Sudheer Gupta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2217 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.07.2019

## COLLAPSE OF ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION TOWERS

2217. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR: SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether as per Central Electricity Authority (CEA) latest report, as many  as  52  electricity  transmission  towers  have  collapsed  between October, 2016 to March 2018 due to rampant irregularities on the part of transmission companies;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State/ UT-wise;
- (c) whether  most  of  the  dysfunctional  towers  failed  within  5  years  of commissioning;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether  the  power  companies  had  been  clamping  and  clipping additional components of towers instead of replacing the damaged parts despite recommendations of Standing Committee of CEA; and
- (f) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  action  taken  by  the  Government against such erring power companies? A N S W E R
- THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  POWER,  NEW  & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

- (a) & (b) : Various utilities during the period of October, 2016, to March, 2018 have reported the collapse/failure of total 52 no. towers of  220 kV and  above voltage level due to reasons like wind, flood, vehicular impact, etc. Details of these failures are given in Annexure-I.
- (c) & (d) : More  than  75%  of  total  transmission  tower  failures  reported during October, 2016, to March, 2018, failed within 5 years of commissioning of transmission line. The details of the failure are given in Annexure-II.
- (e) & (f) : The damaged/failed towers are replaced by the utilities with new towers in accordance with Standing Committee recommendations.

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## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  &  (b)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  2217 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 04.07.2019. ***************

## Details of transmission lines failures reported to CEA between October, 2016 to March, 2018

|   Sl. No | Name of Transmission line                                                                         | Name of utility                                                          |   Year of Commission- ing | No. of towers failed   | State /UT      |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|------------------------|----------------|
|        1 | 400 kV D/C Dadri - Panipat transmission line                                                      | PGCIL                                                                    |                      1984 | 5                      | Uttar Pradesh  |
|        2 | 400 kV D/C Silchar- PurbaKanchan Bari transmission line                                           | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2015 | 8                      | Assam          |
|        3 | 765 kV D/C Wardha -Nizamabad transmission line                                                    | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2017 | 1                      | Maharashtra    |
|        4 | 400 kV D/C Koderma-Bokaro transmission line                                                       | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2014 | 3                      | Jharkhand      |
|        5 | 400 kV D/C Farakka -Kahalgaon I & II transmission line                                            | PGCIL                                                                    |                      1992 | 4                      | Jharkhand      |
|        6 | 765 kV S/C Gaya- Varanasi-I transmission line                                                     | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2012 | 5                      | Bihar          |
|        7 | 765 kV S/C Bina- Gwalior transmission line                                                        | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2014 | 2                      | Madhya Pradesh |
|        8 | 765 kV S/C Bina-Indore transmission line                                                          | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2012 | 4                      | Madhya Pradesh |
|        9 | 765 kV S/C Agra- Jatikara transmission line                                                       | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2013 | 3                      | Haryana        |
|       10 | 400 kV S/C Singrauli-Lucknow transmission line                                                    | PGCIL                                                                    |                      1986 | 2                      | Uttar Pradesh  |
|       11 | 765 kV S/C Bhiwani-Jhatikra transmission line                                                     | PGCIL                                                                    |                      2012 | 1                      | Delhi/Haryana  |
|       12 | 400 kV D/C Tikrikalan-Bawana transmission line                                                    | Delhi Transco Ltd. (DTL)                                                 |                      2000 | 1                      | Delhi          |
|       13 | 765 kV S/C Jabalpur-Bina transmission line                                                        | Sterlite Power                                                           |                      2015 | 5                      | Madhya Pradesh |
|       14 | +500 HVDC Mundra - Mohindergarh transmission line                                                 | Adani Transmission Ltd. (ATL)                                            |                      2012 | 1                      | Gujarat        |
|       15 | (i)400kV D/C Barh -Motihari Transmission Line (ii) 400kV D/C Motihari-Gorakhpur Transmission line | Darbhanga- Motihari Transmission Company Ltd. (DMTCL) (Essel Infra Ltd.) |                      2017 | 1 1                    | Bihar          |
|       16 | 765KV D/C Narendra (New)- Madhugiri (Tumkur) Transmission Line (Hexa Zebra)                       | L&T                                                                      |                      2016 | 5                      | Karnataka      |

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  &  (d)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  2217 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 04.07.2019. ***************

Details of transmission lines failures reported to CEA between October, 2016 to March, 2018 which failed within 5 years of line commissioning.

|   Sl. No. | Name of Transmission line                               | Name of utility   |   Year of Commission- ing |   No. of towers failed | State /UT      | Reason of Failure                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|---------------------------|------------------------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | 400 kV D/C Silchar- PurbaKanchan Bari transmission line | PGCIL             |                      2015 |                      8 | Assam          | Erection deficiencies such as missing cover plates, missing bolts in butt joints of leg member, unplugged holes, rusted stubs due to water logging etc. might have resulted in reduced strength of tower and combined with localized wind storm might have caused the failure of towers.                                                                                                          |
|         2 | 765 kV D/C Wardha - Nizamabad transmission line         | PGCIL             |                      2017 |                      1 | Maharashtra    | The structural integrity of transmission towers depends on many factors including quality of material grade used in tower body, Construction methodology,workmansh ip and erection practices, member theft, O&M of the transmission utilities etc. High speed of wind in conjunction with gaps in one or more of the above mentioned aspects might have caused the failure of transmission tower. |
|         3 | 400 kV D/C Koderma- Bokaro transmission line            | PGCIL             |                      2014 |                      3 | Jharkhand      | ---do---                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|         4 | 765 kV S/C Bina- Gwalior transmission line              | PGCIL             |                      2014 |                      2 | Madhya Pradesh | ----do---                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|         5 | 765 kV S/C Agra- Jatikara transmission line             | PGCIL             |                      2013 |                      3 | Haryana        | ---do---                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|         6 | 765 kV S/C Jabalpur- Bina transmission line             | Sterlite Power    |                      2015 |                      5 | Madhya Pradesh | The structural integrity of transmission towers depends on many factors including quality of material grade used in tower body, Construction methodology, workmanship and erection practices, Operations & Maintenance practices of the transmission                                                                                                                                              |

|    |                                                                                                      |                                                        |      |     |           | utilities etc. High speed of wind in conjunction with gaps in one or more of the above mentioned aspects appears to be the cause of transmission tower failure.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|----|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|------|-----|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  7 | (i)400 kV D/C Barh - Motihari Transmission Line (ii) 400 kV D/C Motihari-Gorakhpur Transmission line | Darbhang a Motihari Transmis sion Company Ltd. (DMTCL) | 2017 | 1 1 | Bihar     | Water level of Gandak river was 600 mm above HFL and 2000 mm above danger level. Towers were located near river bank. Due to the sudden release of water from the barrage, the velocity of the water might have                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|  8 | 765KV D/C Narendra (New)- Madhugiri (Tumkur) Transmission Line (Hexa Zebra)                          | Infra Ltd.) L&T                                        | 2016 | 5   | Karnataka | Wind speed data provided by the utility Indicates that the wind speed was 16 m/s at 22:10 hrs. i.e. at the time of failure of towers. The maximum wind speed measured was 29.37m/s at around 21:20 hrs on 24.05.2017 which is below the design wind speed of 33 m/s considered for Wind Zone-1. The high wind velocity might have induced the failure of towers but it may not be the sole reason for the occurrence of the incident. The structural integrity of transmission towers depends on many factors including quality of material grade used in tower body, Construction methodology, work- manship and erection practices, members theft, Operation & Maintenance practices of the transmission utilities, etc. High speed of wind in Conjunction with gaps in one or more of the above mentioned aspects appears to be the cause of transmission tower failure. |

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