Power cable damage: Telecom contractor the culprit

A private contractor hired by Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has been found responsible for the excavation, which caused large-scale damage to the main underground power cable, the Maradana Police said. The main underground power cable, which supplies power from Kolonnawa to key areas such as the Hospital Square, Maradana, Colombo 4,5,6 and 7, was found damaged on June 16. The main cable had been exposed at the Vipulasena Mawatha Junction; Colombo 10 after an unknown party had excavated the road.

Maradana Police OIC W.S. Nissanka told The Sunday Times that after six days of investigations, police found that a private contractor hired by SLT had been doing some excavation at the spot when a backhoe had accidentally damaged the power cable. The CEB, which was under the impression that an unknown party had been responsible for an illegal excavation of the road, had filed a complaint with the Maradana Police.

However, the Colombo Municipal Council and the Maradana Traffic Police had granted the contractor the necessary permission to go ahead with the work, police said. CEB Colombo Chief Engineer P.N. Dissanayake said the CEB was unaware any excavation work had been done as the CEB was not informed by the relevant authorities.

He said that repairs to the 132 KV power line would cost an estimated Rs.10 million to Rs. 15 million and that it would take a minimum of two months to repair as engineers from Australia must be brought down to start repair work. He said that the main power line ran almost 1.5 metres below the surface of the ground while a 3-inch layer of cement was placed 1 foot above the line for protection. A bright yellow warning tape was also placed a foot above the cement barrier to warn any excavators from digging deeper.

“Those who carried out the excavation had apparently ignored the warning tape and had also broken the cement barrier. However, since the excavation was done at night, there was a possibility that the warning tape would not have been seen,” he said.

He said the CEB legal department would send a letter of demand to SLT, requesting the full sum of the damages be paid failing which recourse to courts may be necessary.