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Naveen Kumar, presently at the KRCL Package 3 Project, has been associated with PT&D since 2007, right from his GET days and has been a part of several successful project deliveries. “There are several factors that contribute to achieving a milestone but planning ahead has always given us the decisive edge and in the pandemic environment, we have successfully closed in on many fronts largely by being proactive.”

“This is a one-of-its-kind project with the task of building critical power infrastructure at an altitude of over 980 m MSL where every move of ours has to be precise,” shares Naveen. With four substations aligned inside the tunnel and a 33 kV HV cable laying over the Chenab bridge, the highest railway bridge in the world, Naveen and team has a tall list of deliverables. “We took stock of the situation and listed out the tasks that had to be closed immediately such as the hill cutting works that was not in our scope but key to establishing base for the substations.” The team safely executed close to 5000 cum of hill cutting through their own resources that included rock bolting and soil protection works in a challenging terrain that was a new learning for them.

For Naveen, appreciating the larger picture was critical in an highly complex project as KRCL.

“We all have our targets but then there is an overlapping portion involving other stakeholders that has to be done seamlessly to achieve the milestones,” he points out. Some smart thinking enabled the team as well as the external stakeholders to be on the same platform through a common group where daily work progress and issues are shared. “It is a real-time update and the team’s collective effort has ensured that we have plugged the gaps based on priorities.”

L&T HAS TAUGHT ME HOW TO FACE CHALLENGES AND EXTREME PRESSURE!

Tanmay Dwivedi

Senior Engineer (ELECTRICAL), PT&D IC

“Once we have taken up a project, it is our responsibility to complete it in time,” says Tanmay Dwivedi seriously from his complex KRCL project Packages T3 and T5 where he is the Planning Manager. “This is one-of-a-kind project,” he shares, “so we got cracking right away setting our immediate milestones to get our drawings approved for GFC. There is a lot of electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation equipment to be installed at appropriate places in the tunnels so we surveyed all the tunnels and backed by the EDRC team at Chennai, we all worked night and day to come up with the best possible solutions.”

Digitalization is leading the way for the team and apart from conducting online meetings, the team uses the safety related SHIELD App, the Quality App, and the ALIGN tool to monitor project progress regularly. At the end of each day, progress updates are entered into the micro plan and a comparison made with the baseline schedule for course corrections, if any. “We keep track of workmen safety, the quality of works, project progress and more by remaining physically distant but digitally connected,” he smiles.

Having joined L&T as a GET in 2017, Tanmay is at his 3^rd project after earlier stints at the IPDS Kanpur project as Site Engineer and later at the Saubhagya-LKM project, initially as Planning Assistant and later as Planning Engineer. “I joined the KRCL project in November 2020,” he affirms. Hailing from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Tanmay is still single and when asked about his life partner, he grins mischievously, saying, “She must be eating pizza somewhere!” He loves playing cricket and badminton.

“Our Project Manager has always shown the way and motivated us to achieve our project targets while L&T has taught us how to face extreme pressure and challenges and that there is no compromise for quality work,” he signs off on a high.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING
GOOD RELATIONS

Gopi is from Venkatapalem in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh and is married to Usha, a homemaker. The couple are blessed with two children, son, Siva, and daughter, Nandini. Their births are Gopi’s life’s most cherished moments. “I like to play cricket and watch movies but find it hard to follow them at the project site,” he says a trifle wistfully.

“Recognition and appreciation for successful events from all levels of hierarchy motivates one to achieve more and more in the form of significant collections or even, on time project completion,” says Gopi in conclusion. “Of course, motivation to make bigger contributions fills me with pride for being part of this multinational conglomerate.”

AN ALL-ROUNDER PROVING HIS EFFICIENCY

Senthil Kumar G

Senior Construction Manager (Civil), PT&D IC

Unsurprisingly, all Senthil’s life memorable moments feature achievements at the various sites he has worked; be it achieving a 7 days’ slab cycle at the Mughal Gardens project or establishing 4 factories at 4 different locations in UP in 2018 or even winning the British Safety Council, ROSPA, and Quality awards in Tata Power in 2012. “I am proud working for India’s No 1 construction company and enjoy the opportunities to prove my efficiency and expertise,” he signs proudly.

IT’S ALL ABOUT ACHIEVING A PERFECT SYNC

Rahul Dadarao Harnawal

Construction Manager (Electrical), PT&D IC

Executing extra high voltage substations is a complex task and all about achieving a perfect sync between the civil, mechanical, and electrical works, a task that Rahul Dadarao Harnawal, Construction Manager (Electrical), has been excelling at over the years. “It was a little different here being PT&D’s first substation for Mumbai Metro involving the construction and commissioning of a 110/33-25 kV receiving substation and 13 auxiliary substations.”

With Mumbai badly affected by the pandemic, execution was always tough, mentions Rahul. “We diligently made inroads with special permissions and closed in on some of the most challenging milestones such as laying the 148 Km HT cable with the help of the traffic police and local authorities.” The heart of the project was the construction of the power centre over a 3600 sqm plot that posed the team multiple challenges.

“As there was an existing 6m wide storm water drain running through the plot and a 14.5m concrete bridge connecting the two sides of the land area, we came up with a sustainable construction scheme, reworking the foundation design by increasing the depth and size of the rafts to secure the green zone in and around the plot.”

“Arriving at on-site improvisations was always a team game with every player coming up with unique ideas,” reveals Rahul. “Every time we hit a bottleneck the team sat together to crack suitable solutions. Like when we had a mobility issue due to space constraint, we implemented a temporary bridge and erected a 20m high tower crane with a 35m boom reach which quickened completion of works with lesser manpower, ensuring safety and quality within a 3-month period.”

24^th May 2021 was a red-lettered day for Rahul and his team as the substation was charged. “This milestone facilitated the overhead electrification of the line and subsequent trial runs. We have gone a step further to synchronize the auxiliary substations thereby adding one more powerful benchmark to PT&D’s list of achievements.”

A native of Solapur in Maharashtra, Rahul is delighted for having contributed to the construction of iconic projects in his home state. “My wife, Sanchita, is a banking professional, who keenly follows infrastructure development as it has a direct bearing on the economy. We have lively discussions on how projects transform lives and L&T’s role in nation building.”

Young Siddhant Agrawal’s life’s most memorable moment was when he was appreciated by his client, MMRDA, for their work at the Mumbai Metro Line 7 project, during the pandemic. “One of our biggest milestones was to achieve ‘Zero COVID-19 positivity’ among the workmen,” he shares excitedly. “The client’s appreciation was great as was the appreciation certificate we received for store management. Our other important milestone was to successfully charge the RSS during the difficult pandemic time.”

This recognition are the high points in Siddhant’s young career that began in 2015 when he joined L&T as a GCT, and he is presently at his 4^th project. At his first RAPP (RJ) to Sujapur (MP) transmission line project, a fast-tracked one for Sterlite, he learnt the functioning of stores and the accounting/admin/time office works. At his second, the ‘Waroora to Parli’ transmission line project, “I was given overall responsibility that moulded me for the future. I singlehandedly handled ROW, administration and time office works,” he says proudly. Next, he speedily demobilized the Solapur to Parli site in some 4 months, clearing all issues with no material or issues pending and after a short deputation at the Nagpur Cluster Office, joined the Mumbai Metro site in 2019.

With Mumbai being perhaps the worst affected zone, retaining labour was their primary concern, succeeding to hold some 100 in the labour camp. “Being from a service department, I provided immediate support to fulfil the requirements of the execution team and this support from behind is equally important for on time execution,” he remarks. “A key aspect to monitor the progress has been communication and maintaining it continuously with both employees and workmen. In fact, I have been in touch with every workman to understand and try to resolve their issues and pain points.”

While digital solutions have given the entire project team a huge advantage, through various training programmes at site and BU levels, Siddhant has learnt the procedures of the execution team. “My seniors and colleagues have totally guided and supported me. Without their guidance it would not have been possible to achieve our milestones,” he says earnestly.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Siddhant says, “I like to play outdoor games like cricket, badminton and video games as well but being posted at project site, it is difficult to take out time for them. I try to follow my hobbies on holidays,” he grins.

“I am proud by the way L&T has supported all the employees and workmen, and how we have all stood together to face this pandemic,” he concludes, proud of his association.

INNOVATIVE CONSTRUCTION METHODS TO CATCH UP TIME

Sheik Oli Abdul Azeez

Construction Manager (Civil), PT&D IC

Sheik is thankful to his Project Manager, Mr. V Oscar, and Cluster Managers, Mr. Sooraj & Mr. Chayan for their continuous motivation and to his project team of Sabuj, Jayakrishnan, Vignesh, Mahendran, Rajendra & the front-end office team for being his backbone to achieve their milestones and targets.

From Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Sheik is married to Benazir, a homemaker, and the apple of their eyes is their 5-year-old son, Muhammad Ihab, who’s birth has been Sheik’s most memorable moment. “I love to listen to music, watch cricket, movies, play table tennis, exercise and walk during weekends and on holidays,” he smiles.

To address these issues, the team started to stock consumables in bulk wherever available locally, which could be required even after six months and increased labour productivity by motivating and ensuring them complete facilities during the pandemic like regular health check-ups, extra buses for maintaining social distance, etc.

“We divided the workmen into groups during working hours at site and during their stay at the labour camp,” he explains. “If any workman showed symptoms, he was immediately isolated. Each group had two gangs of 8 workmen each, accommodating all cadres of workmen. The activities in the critical path were continuously engaged with different gangs and shifts. Most of the subcontractor teams were asked to come at different times like the scaffolding team started activities at 2 am.”

Mohd recognizes the huge benefits of adopting digital solutions. “All meetings and FATs were conducted online, saving time. We used the ALIGN App to monitor the project and OPTICVYU time lapse camera for real time project updates,” he shares. “As progress was monitored online, delay in any activity with respect to baseline schedule was immediately highlighted in weekly progress meetings and actions were taken accordingly.”

SMARTER YOU WORK, GREATER YOUR ACHIEVEMENT

A PENCHANT FOR TAKING UP CHALLENGES ACROSS NEW HORIZONS

Shelbbyn Michael Raj, Project Control Manager, at the Rehabilitation & Upgradation of Electricity Network of Hassi Berkine Bassin area near Algeria continues to do what he is best at. “All through my career, I have handled core power infrastructure projects largely in the Middle East. After joining L&T, my international stint continues, of course, in a new region with the larger onus to deliver a composite power network that is more like a hot line stringing.”

We are called the ‘Desert Warriors’ for very good reason, he mentions with a grin. “A large span of our job is right across the Sahara Desert to revamp a 220 kV power station in live conditions across 19 locations comprising 8 substations and 11 Central Processing Facilities.” Even planning movement from one work location to another is not easy. “We have restrictions other than the pandemic-imposed lockdowns as the region is very sensitive and our every move is under security cover,” Shelbbyn mentions with a serious look. “Then there is the challenge of working and living within a bio-bubble with our first point of resource access being 400 km away. However, thanks to our meticulous planning, we have largely been on track in a job of this nature which is a trailblazer project for PT&D.”

For someone who has successfully executed power infrastructure project across oil and gas industries, Shelbbyn has been up to the task in the present assignment. “The existing network supplies power to the oil and gas industries around this region and any power disruption would have directly impacted their operations.

One of the first priorities we lined up was the decomposition activities along with the sequencing. These are basics in project execution but here, we had to consider the live revamp without a shutdown window. Resources had to be deftly handled as we had to balance the works depending on the criticality and timelines. What worked for us was a combination of many factors with technology giving the edge.” For the first time in PT&D, Shelbbyn is proud that they made use of mobile substations. “It’s a plug and play station that comes at a price but then gets the work done which is what really matters.”

Shelbbyn owes a lot to his wife, Seethalakshmi, who opted over her career to nurture their daughter, Riya, who is seven years old. “She gave up her banking job but there are no regrets as she is instrumental in shaping my daughter’s aspirations.”

MAKING A CONSCIENTIOUS SHIFT 

At L&T, opportunities come in the form of challenges and for Venkateswarlu Aitha, Senior Manager, (Electrical), the shift from domestic to international projects has been action packed. “Over the last 14 years, I have handled a range of projects across the distribution sector involving air and gas insulated substations which includes new-age technologies like Statcom and Metro power infrastructure. Moving from an engineering and project management profile to lead a design team to evolve field engineering solutions at the Rehabilitation and Upgradation of the Electricity Grid Berkine Bassin in Algeria has been a big break for me.”

This project is all about breaking new grounds and for Venkateswarlu, converting challenges into opportunities began with digital tools. “A project of this stature, if bagged a few years ago would have been tough to execute but with new-age applications like 3D scanning, we are able to do the seemingly impossible, to work out a load transfer plan in live conditions to save close to 55 days of construction time.” Elaborating on the scheme, Venkateswarlu shares, “with a conventional approach, it is mandatory to upgrade the existing power infrastructure through a shutdown window, but we were able to collect ‘as-built information’ through LiDAR processing based on which the workplan was finalised.”

The biggest gain through this digital mode was to get the client’s endorsement, shares an elated Venkateswarlu. “Proposals for all the 19 substations including the 11 central processing facilities details were reviewed online by the client thereby reducing the approval cycle time to 7 days from the existing 21 days. Going further, we bridged the pandemic restrictions by routing the Factory Acceptance Tests through MS Teams involving the OEMs and clients wherever physical interface was not possible.”

On-ground improvisations was another factor that contributed to completing the milestones. “EHV cable termination activities are usually carried out either by OEM or OEM-certified jointers,” he remarks. “However, as the respective OEMs regretted about deputing their personnel, we sourced technically qualified locals to close in on such critical activities with a fair bit of orientation.” Keeping tab on activities, spread across the Sahara Desert, was another challenge but the ‘Align’ tool provided the team notifications in real time. “Most of our internal progress reporting was in line to enable approved progress measurements from the client’s end.”

Back home in Chennai, it is the same digital platform that connects Venkateswarlu with his family. “My wife Sandhya along with my children, Saharsh and Sashreek ensure that distance never matters as they relate all their updates with my mother chipping in with her occasional advice, making me feel at home so far away from home.”

From a slow start to steady progress is what Gadmsetty Venkateswarlu, Section & Wayleave In-charge has achieved at the 275 kV Medamit to Lawas Town Transmission Line Project. “Our tower alignment is largely through hilly terrains and with the region receiving seasonal rainfall of close to 7 months a year, establishing access to work spots was our primary challenge. Thanks to technology, value engineering and mechanization, we have been able to make timely breakthroughs to surge ahead.”

In the first six months, the team completed 50 foundations while the next 50 were achieved in just 3 months’ time. “This is my second transmission line project in Malaysia after the landmark 500 kV Double Circuit Transmission Line from Yong Peng East Substation to Point ‘A’ (Mukim Jabi, Daerah Segamat),” informs Venkateswarlu, “but the conditions are largely similar with the terrain presenting similar challenges. It is crucial to quickly establish the RoW as it paves the way for taking up core works.” At site, Venkateswarlu and team worked on a time-tested ploy of splitting the work force into two units, “this way, we were able to zone in on work fronts and balance the flow of progress.”

Having executed several projects in the Middle East and Africa, Venkateswarlu, is certainly aware of the importance of technological improvisations. “Minor customizations enabled the team to achieve significant breakthroughs like fitting the excavator with a modified concrete bucket which facilitated pouring of concrete especially in hilly terrains where the conventional mixer machine was not feasible for operations.” Likewise, “the team made good use of the local infrastructure and manpower to do the base works with the required orientation,” highlights Venkateswarlu.

Sarawak presented a unique challenge. “Though a part of Malaysia, this region is more like an independent country with its own set of rules and regulations with the pandemic making travel regulations even tougher.” A mixed macro-micro approach drawing on L&T’s project management expertise enabled Venkateswarlu, and team set the course.

Hailing from Kalasapadu in Andhra Pradesh, Venkateswarlu’s family includes his wife Usha Rani, who is a senior software engineer, and daughters, Manvitha and Jaashwika. A break from work means connecting with family and enjoying a session of his favourite stand-up comedy. “It’s my way of relaxation that works wonders for me,” he signs off on a happy note.

Even as the world reeled under the impact of the pandemic, there were many hardy L&T-ites like Vempalli Aseef fighting it out. At his Medamit to Lawas Town 275kV transmission line project in Sarawak, Malaysia, he plays the dual role of Section In-charge and Engineering Coordinator and is most willing to make sacrifices to push progress. “We effectively utilized the lockdown period by conducting virtual internal meetings with all stakeholders to develop a micro level plan for immediate milestones,” he says. “We identified bottlenecks and addressed them by assigning responsibilities and explored opportunities for mechanization wherever possible.”

Aseef loves to adapt to new technologies reflected in his smart work at site by dividing the civil works into sub works, engaging different groups for different activities like civil works involving access road preparation, platform preparation, logistics (material shifting), foundation works, finishing works and such like. “Since all these works are under one subcontractor, the normal practice would have been for the same team to do them all but by dividing the work we were able to push forward across several fronts,” explains Aseef. In addition, they identified local companies with the potential to mobilize large amount of machinery, recruit local workers and trained the available local workmen by providing technical and supervisory support.

Of course, Aseef and his team had to face several challenges like following the new SOPs and face prolonged restrictions on travel from other states and countries that resulted in a scarcity of skilled resources. “New subcontractors were unwilling to work at our remotely located project with many travel restrictions to reach the project site.” Though stressed, Aseef and team managed to overcome their challenges using a nice mix of mechanization, digitalization, and effective use of available local resources.

Aseef is happy about two smart introductions that gave them several advantages. “We introduced larger mixer machines for concreting, saved up to 5-6 hours with lesser manpower and even overcame the issue of scarce skilled manpower,” he says, mentioning the introduction of dozers to prepare access roads and platforms instead of excavators that proved useful for cutting & pushing huge quantities of soil in a short span of time. “We monitor project progress through drones and issue work permits through the SHIELD App,” he remarks, “and taking advantage of our time difference, we are two and a half hours ahead of India, we interacted with EDRC daily to complete the engineering,” he smiles.

Presently, at his 4^th project with L&T, Aseef hails from Piler, in the Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh, is married to Shabnam, a homemaker, and they are blessed with a daughter, Aaliya.

SEEKING LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO DRIVE PROGRESS

Nikhil Mundada

Assistant Construction Manager (Elec), PT&D IC

“Words have the power to light up minds, provide the right kind of motivation and when shared by the leadership, they become almost a mantra to propel business forward,” says, Nikhil Mundada, who dons multiple roles as planning manager, project scheduler and procurement support at the 275 kV Medamit to Lawas Town Double Circuit Transmission line. “I vividly recall the last townhall meeting where our IC Head mentioned that as the Columbus of L&T, the Sun should never set on PT&D’s empire. For me, those words are memorable for they clearly capture the intensity with which the company wants to grow.”

For Nikhil, the last decade at L&T has been very successful. Joining as a PGET in 2011, he has handled a mix of PT&D projects beginning with the landmark Hyderabad Metro Rail. Later, he shifted base to Malaysia at the Samalaju-B Substation project as a Primavera expert & Planning Manager, provided project tendering support for the ASEAN Cluster-1 and is now at Lawas Town, with a range of deliverables. “Things initially did not go as per plan due to the pandemic and the hard work began with the rescheduling of the execution schemes based on local issues,” he says ruefully.

With the Malaysian borders closed, mobilization of overseas skilled workmen took a beating for the team. “All our efforts were in vain, and we had to look for inexperienced locals; also, for teams from Thailand but with limited options,” he shakes his head. “Similarly, material transportation became increasingly difficult due to restrictions at the state border. The only way out for us at this juncture was to bank on the inexperienced locals.” The team therefore took the risk by deputing a team of engineers to train the locals starting with the basics. “On field, the tower foundation team was a mix of experienced and unskilled workmen which gave balance and direction to complete the task across the alignment spanning close to 131 Km.”

While pushing hard to make progress, support from the client and vendors helped their cause immensely. “The client ensured smooth cashflow with timely payments while our vendors supported execution through remote FATs saving us cost and time. We not only used drones to capture site photographs, but also trained our safety officer to use them for site inspections.”

Nikhil fondly mentions his knowledge sharing sessions with his wife, Preethi, who is a civil engineer. “She chose home making as her career when I moved to Malaysia in 2016 but we discuss on many project issues and it’s always nice that my work is acknowledged from her end.” The couple is blessed with a daughter, Riddhi, who is the joy of their lives.