3 min readChandigarhMay 20, 2026 10:11 AM IST
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Tuesday, launched an underground electricity wiring project on a pilot basis in his native Satoj village. Laying the foundation stone of the Rs 8-crore project, Mann said Satoj would become Punjab’s first village to completely transition from an overhead electricity wiring system to an underground cable network, making it “pole-free”.
“This is a pilot project. It will be replicated in other villages and cities of Punjab,” Mann said, adding he launched the project from his own village “because it is easier for me to convince my own villagers for a new project”.
Calling the “Satoj Model” a roadmap for the entire country, Mann declared the project as the beginning of a “Roshan Punjab” and said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has fulfilled its promise of creating wire-free villages for Punjab’s farmers and asserted that underground power supply would also end the politics surrounding the installation of electricity poles in villages.
Under the pilot project, 384 electricity poles will be removed from Satoj, and underground cables will be laid without digging roads. Mann said seven kilometres of high tension lines, 9.5 kilometres of low tension lines, and 41 kilometres of service cables connecting 800 consumers’ homes will be laid underground. All high tension lines connected from the 66 kV grid to the village through three 11 KV feeders and linked to 28 transformers will go underground. Thereafter, all low-tension lines from the 28 transformers to the meter boxes will also be laid underground, he said.
The cables connecting meter boxes to all households will likewise be undergrounded, due to which the electricity poles will be removed.
“A special feature of the project is that roads will not need to be dug up for laying underground cables because trenchless drilling machines will be used to install underground pipes. These pipes will be laid three feet beneath the ground,” he said, adding that the work will be completed in 45 days.
He said the cables that will be laid are heat and water-resistant and will be inserted through conduits made of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes before being covered for protection. He claimed that the underground cables being used in the project come with a 50-year warranty.
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He said underground cabling would significantly reduce disruptions caused by storms and rainfall while also minimising transmission losses and accidental fires caused by sparking.
Recalling a tragic incident during his tenure as Sangrur MP, Mann said, “Three young men from this village had lost their lives due to electric shocks involving combine harvesters. They were the only breadwinners for their families. This project is a tribute to those young men because such tragic incidents should never occur in future.”
Referring to the anti-sacrilege legislation, Mann said the state government enacted it against sacrilege, with provisions for punishment up to life imprisonment, to ensure that no one dares to disrespect Guru Granth Sahib in future.
Meanwhile, state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar demanded an investigation into the project’s tendering process. He alleged that the tender was approved during the tenure of former power minister Sanjeev Arora, who is currently in jail on corruption charges.
