Very few apply for power fence registration in Coimbatore district to comply with new rules

Few Coimbatore residents apply for power fence registration despite new rules. DFO Jayaraj says permission from Forest Dept. must for new fences, existing ones must submit application within 60 days. Joint inspections by DFO and Tangedco to check power output levels and crack down on illegal fences. Energiser must have BIS/IEC/EN marking, peak output voltage must not exceed 10 KV. AC current allowed with Tangedco approval.

Though two weeks have passed after the government introduced the Tamil Nadu Power Fences (Registration and Regulation) Rules 2023, very few people have applied for the certificate of registration for new and existing fences in Coimbatore district. N. Jayaraj, District Forest Officer of Coimbatore Forest Division, told The Hindu that the Department has received a very minimal number of applications. As per the new rules, which came into effect on July 3, no person will be allowed to erect a power fence within five km from a reserve forest boundary, in or around his/her property, without getting the certificate of registration from the District Forest Officer. “Permission from the Forest Department is a must for new power fences in places falling under this radius. For existing power fences, the land owners should submit an application within 60 days. Instructions have been given to forest range officers to sensitise people who are already using power fences,” Mr. Jayaraj said. Upon receiving an application, the property will be inspected by the DFO along with an officer, not below the rank of Assistant Divisional Engineer of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco). They may grant permission or reject the application depending on the nature of topography of that area, animal trails and conformity to various conditions and technical specifications mentioned in the rules. The forest range officer and the foreman of Tangedco of the area concerned should conduct joint inspection of the properties, where power fences have been erected, once in a fortnight and maintain a log book for such inspection. According to S. Ramasubramanian, Conservator of Forests and Field Director of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, the Forest Department and Tangedco staff have been conducting joint inspections to check the power output levels of existing fences.

These inspections are also meant to crack down on illegal power fences for which electricity AC current is directly supplied to the fencing cables without using a battery-powered energiser of the prescribed standards. As per the rule, the energiser should be powered by a battery not exceeding 12 volts DC and the peak output voltage should not exceed 10 KV. The energiser should have certification of BIS-302-2-76 (India) or IEC 60335 or EN60335 (international) markings with serial number. The pulse interval in the fence should be in between 1-1.5 seconds and the duration of impulse should not exceed 0.1 seconds. An approval from Tangedco is required to use AC current to charge the 12 V battery in the absence of solar power. It says that AC charged energisers with BIS/IEC/EN marking may be permitted with the approval of Tangedco.