A mysterious case of two missing 25-metre-high steel power transmission towers and an entire stretch of an alternative electricity transmission line has been reported in the Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh, raising serious concerns over the safety and monitoring of critical public infrastructure.
The missing towers were located across the Sisiri river between Aohali and Dambuk and were constructed under the Government of India’s Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme at a reported cost of over Rs 3 crore. The infrastructure served as the only 11 kv transmission line supplying electricity to Dambuk and Paglam subdivisions through the Pasighat-Mebo feeder until 2022, when the XLPE cable project across the Dibang river was commissioned.
The disappearance of the two towering steel structures and the transmission line has baffled residents and raised questions over how such critical government infrastructure could vanish without attracting official attention. What makes the incident even more intriguing is that no FIR or formal complaint has reportedly been lodged, and local residents remained unaware that the towers had gone missing, attributing the recurring power disruptions during the monsoon to landslides and other seasonal factors.
The matter surfaced after power supply to Dambuk subdivision became increasingly unreliable following a fault in the XLPE cable transmission system laid across the Dibang river. With the 132 kv transmission line being constructed by Powergrid yet to be commissioned, the subdivision has been witnessing prolonged power outages. According to sources, the now-missing transmission line served as a vital standby source of electricity whenever the main transmission system developed faults.
The disappearance has also raised several unanswered questions. How could two 25-metre-tall steel towers and an entire transmission line disappear without the knowledge of the authorities? If the infrastructure was dismantled, who authorised its removal? Was the Government of India, under whose scheme the project was executed, informed before the structures were removed? If the towers were stolen, how could such a large-scale operation take place without attracting the attention of either the authorities or local residents?
As of the filing of this report, there was no official confirmation from the Power Department on whether the towers and transmission line had been dismantled under any authorised plan or whether their disappearance was the result of theft or any other unlawful act. It also remains unclear whether any departmental inquiry has been initiated into the matter.
The transmission line was a key component of Dambuk’s power infrastructure, commissioned on 21 April, 2015, when the then power minister Tanga Byaling formally switched on the electricity supply, significantly improving power connectivity to the subdivision. Ironically, the older transmission line, which continued to serve as a crucial backup during outages, is now reportedly missing.
