BSES discoms launch ‘dial and dig’ dedicated helpline number

NEWDELHI: To minimise damage to electricity cables due to haphazard digging of roads, the BSES discoms have launched a ‘dial n dig’ campaign, which aims to sensitise stakeholders about its dangers and help residents to resolve such issues on time.

Dedicated helpline numbers have been introduced that will work for 24X7. Affected residents or RWAS can dial these numbers and inform the patrolling teams about ongoing digging work in the area.

“There are several reasons for outages and many of these are easily preventable. Our analysis has shown that unplanned digging of road by civic agencies, telecom operators and their contractors during process of repair or laying pipelines is a major cause for power cuts across South, West Delhi, East and Central Delhi.”

“This not only inconveniences residents who have to stay without electricity for long duration, but can also lead to serious safety threat for the passersby. Besides, it also leads to substantial monetary loss to the discoms. On an average, around 800-1000 underground cables get damaged annually in the process (digging),” said the official.

To avoid these incidents, the discoms have launched the campaign under which their patrolling team will reach the venue as soon as they receive the call from residents.

“They will check if the civic authority or contractor carrying out the digging work has taken any permission from BSES Rajdjani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) before starting the excavation or digging on any corridor. The team will also guide these workers process to dig road carefully so that no electricity cable gets damaged,” the officials said.

The two helpline numbers introduced are 1800 3000 9707 for BRPL users in South and West Delhi and 39997376 for BYPL users in Central and East Delhi.

“By doing so, BSES discoms have become the first discom in the city to do so,” said the BSES spokesperson.