Ranchi: Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd (JBVNL) has warned property owners against constructing residential or commercial buildings under or near 11 kV and 33 kV power lines without mandatory safety clearance.JBVNL’s Ranchi supply circle said inspection teams would conduct citywide drives to identify structures violating safety norms. Details of such buildings would be shared with the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC), district administration and local police for action.Under statutory norms, buildings must maintain a minimum vertical clearance of 4.06 metres from overhead power lines and a horizontal distance of at least 2 m.“Violators will face immediate action,” JBVNL general manager Manmohan Kumar said. “Buildings constructed dangerously close to high-tension wires were unlikely to have RMC sanctioned plans and would be treated as unauthorised developments,” he added.JBVNL also raised concerns over the unplanned growth of residential colonies in the city, saying developers often fail to reserve space for electrical infrastructure. The utility has identified more than 100 locations where a lack of space is preventing the installation of distribution transformers.It urged developers to earmark safe and dedicated spaces for transformers and cables before finalising layouts.“Construction and population are increasing, and so is the demand for electricity. If developers do not leave space for transformers and cables, we will not be able to meet the demand,” Kumar said.He added that a continuous corridor of 4-5 ft should be left along every road and lane for laying cables, installing transformers and allowing maintenance vehicles access during faults and outages.Kumar also warned consumers against unauthorised increases in electricity load. “Connections of consumers repeatedly found exceeding their sanctioned load and overburdening the distribution system would be disconnected,” he said.
