A major modernisation of the electrical lines and power equipment at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here is under way with the objective of upgrading the decades-old existing network.
A Rs. 50 lakh-project is being implemented in a phased manner to remove the overhead cables in the temple and take them underground.
Upgrading the electrical equipment and lines would also reduce security risk, K. Rajanayagam, Joint Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department and Executive Officer of temple, told The Hindu here on Monday.
All the overhead cables that are plying in a chaotic manner between the towers and the main temple structure will be removed during the modernisation work. They would no longer be an eyesore inside the temple, he said. Further, the old equipment at the power house from where the power to the entire temple is being routed is also being replaced with ‘state-of-the-art’ ones.
The older generators would be replaced soon with two modern 125 Kilo Volt (KV) generators. In keeping with the current need of contributing positively to the climate, both the generators would be environment friendly. Mr. Rajanayagam said that the air break switch, which controls the flow of 11,000 volts to the temple, was also being replaced with a modern breaker – the Vacuum Circuit Breaker. Apart from greatly minimising the fault levels, this latest equipment is also not prone to corrosion and break-downs.
