336 violations of high voltage grid safety corridor

(Baonghean)- The situation of violating the safety corridor of the power grid has been going on for a long time but there has been no radical solution. When the electricity industry and local authorities have not found a common voice, solving the above problem is still very difficult.

Prolonged Violation

Violations of the power grid safety corridor have been a pressing issue in recent times. There have been tragic accidents caused by violations of power grid safety. On November 19, a worker constructing a housing project for PIHICO Wood Processing Company (Nam Cam Industrial Park) was electrocuted by a high-voltage power line. As a result, this worker had to be hospitalized in critical condition. It is known that the housing project under construction by PIHICO Wood Processing Company is less than 1 meter away from the high-voltage power line.

Two weeks before the accident, the Electricity Department had drawn up a report on the company's deliberate violation of the power grid safety corridor, regardless of the danger to workers. In August, Mr. Nguyen Van Hong (Hamlet 10, Minh Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District) was electrocuted while building a house for Mr. Lang Tuan Canh's family in Hamlet Moi (Minh Thanh Commune) when he let a construction ruler touch the power line running above. The incident caused Mr. Hong to suffer severe burns to his right foot and arm.

A worker constructing a house at PIHICO Wood Processing Company (Nam Cam Industrial Park) was electrocuted by a high-voltage power line and was hospitalized in critical condition.

According to Mr. Ta Quang Lich - Deputy Head of Safety Department, Nghe An Electricity Company: Violations of the safety corridor of high voltage power grids are on the rise. Through inspection and review by electricity branches, from the beginning of 2015 until now, there have been 11 new violations. These violations are concentrated on power lines along national highways, inter-provincial and inter-district roads... due to households expanding and building houses on service land, encroached land, and land granted by the locality. In addition, many units build works such as roads, irrigation works, and houses but do not survey and make budget estimates for renovation or relocation of power works, leading to violations of the safety corridor of power grids and violations of phase-to-ground distance.

The locality with the highest number of violations of the high-voltage power grid safety corridor is Vinh city with 67 cases. According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Loan, Deputy Director of Vinh City Electricity, most of the violations are due to historical reasons. Previously, land management was limited, so the local government granted land to families located within the power grid safety corridor. Initially, these families only built level 4 houses, but later many families built high-rise buildings within the protection area. It is very difficult to persuade households that violate the regulations to spend their own money to renovate and move the power line because of the large costs; moreover, even if they wanted to move, they could not find suitable land.

Violations of the high-voltage power grid safety corridor in block 13, Ben Thuy ward (Vinh city) have existed for many years but have not been resolved.

In Nghi Loc district, there are currently 16 violations of the high-voltage power grid safety corridor, mainly building houses within the protection area of ​​the power grid safety corridor. In Nghi Loc, many families planted trees in the power grid protection corridor, but when the Electricity Department asked the families to cut them down, they demanded compensation. According to regulations, this is a violation of the law. Mr. Hoa Xuan Thang, Deputy Director of Nghi Loc Power Company, said: Many families after cutting down trees were compensated by the Electricity Department and committed not to repeat the offense, but when the new owners arrived, the above situation recurred. Although the Electricity Department has mobilized, the families did not cooperate and even requested compensation at a higher price than the State's regulations. Therefore, many violations have not been resolved and have lasted until now.

Lack of coordination

One of the reasons for the long-term and difficult-to-solve violations of the power grid safety corridor is the loose coordination between the Electricity sector and local authorities at all levels. First of all, the hundreds of violations of the power grid safety corridor occurred due to limitations in surveying and granting land to people. Therefore, many families were granted land within the power grid safety corridor. When discovered, the coordination to resolve the issue still showed signs of shirking responsibility.

Mr. Hoa Xuan Thang, Deputy Director of Nghi Loc Power Company, said that there were violations and the Electricity industry sent official dispatches requesting the authorities to take measures to resolve the violations but they did not cooperate. Furthermore, the Electricity industry does not have the authority to impose administrative penalties, so it is very difficult to resolve the above violations.

Currently, in Hung Nguyen district, there are 6 points of violation of the power grid corridor, but the district has only been aware of 1 point. According to Mr. Tran Van Lan, Deputy Head of the Department of Industry and Trade of Hung Nguyen district, when there is a violation, the local government coordinates with the Electricity Department to make a record and notify the family of the violation. However, it is very difficult to impose a penalty, but mainly relies on propaganda, mobilization and the family's self-awareness. According to Mr. Lan, in addition to the low awareness of the people, the responsibility here lies with the commune-level government when discovering the incident, which leads to the situation where when the team comes to make a record, the people's houses have already been built, making it very difficult to handle.

Power workers clear tree branches and bushes affecting power grid safety

According to Mr. Ta Quang Lich - Deputy Head of Safety Department, (Nghe An Electricity Company): In many localities, when detecting violations, the authorities only stop at making records but have not yet imposed fines or enforced the demolition of illegal constructions. In addition, some people, although fully aware of the level of violations and the dangers of constructing works and houses in the high-voltage grid protection corridor, still deliberately violate with the reason that they have been granted land, or bought land and then wrote a petition to the Electricity sector to relocate poles and wires. "In the coming time, local authorities should rectify the granting of land use rights, construction permits and strengthen inspection and handling to avoid new violations. When granting land or construction permits, the Electricity sector should be consulted. For cases that have received compensation but still deliberately violate, it is necessary to resolve them completely and strictly handle them according to regulations" - Mr. Lich suggested.

Obviously, minimizing violations of the grid safety corridor is not only a solution to avoid damage to people and property, but also one of the most effective solutions to reduce power loss and save electricity. Therefore, all levels, sectors and local authorities need to proactively coordinate with the Electricity sector to establish a grid safety corridor on the basis of effectively promoting legal regulations, depending on the specific functions and tasks of each unit.

Pham Bang