Much-hyped underground cable work in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi set to start next month

Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) will start physical work on taking overhead cables underground in Dhaka's Dhanmondi area next month as part of its mega project to ensure safer transmission of electricity.
 
"We've completed all necessary preparation at a meeting yesterday to start the work in September," said Bikash Dewan, managing director of DPDC, a public limited company under the Power Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
 
He said the distribution body is now waiting for permission from Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) to dig the streets in Dhanmondi area where the project will start on a pilot basis.
 
"We hope we'll get the permission soon as the DSCC mayor is very positive about our project," he told UNB. 
 
The Dhanmondi underground cabling project is part of DPDC's mega scheme for which the organization signed a contract with the Chinese contractor TBEA in September in 2019.
 
Under the Dhanmondi project, 190 km of overhead electricity cables, an eyesore in the city, will be taken underground, DPDC officials said.
 
Of these, about 115 km are of 11 kV overhead lines, and 75 km are 0.4 kV lines, they said adding that all kinds of overhead electric cables will go underground and no cable will remain visible in a particular part of Dhanmondi that includes Satmasjid Road, Mirpur Road, City College and Greenherald School area.
 
The DPDC officials said the China-funded Tk 20,500 crore worth mega scheme also includes setting up 40 substations in the city and moving overhead cables of Hatirjheel Lake underground. Taking overhead cables underground from Jahangir Gate in Cantonment to Motijheel is also included in DPDC's another similar project.
 
Earlier, DPDC completed its design and plan to implement its proposed underground cabling project to make the city free from overhead power cables.
 
"Already, some of the equipment reached the country and some are on the way," he said, adding that pole-mounted transformers will be replaced with box-type transformers under the project.
 
Some 36 box-type transformers, 296 of six-way ring main units (RMU), 34 of three-way RMUs and 130 LV Cabinet will be installed to facilitate the underground cabling system, Bikash said. 
 
DPDC officials said the project was supposed to kick off in January last year. But the Chinese engineers who were responsible for designing the works got stuck in their hometown Wuhan following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
 
But they later returned to Dhaka and got engaged in the project after the improvement in the coronavirus situation both in China and Bangladesh. 
 
Bikash said once the project is implemented, it will play a vital role in improving the power distribution system and substantially check the unexpected interruption in power supply.