SRINAGAR: Blaming load shedding for the unscheduled power cuts in the Valley, Chief Engineer Power Development Department (PDD) on Monday said the department will announce the new power curtailment schedule for the coming winter months in near future and that the schedule would be same as of last year.
The chief engineer Bashir Ahmad Khan said that the department has observed the extra load of power consumption during the recent past and that the power curtailment will be similar to that of the previous year this winter. It is expected that the power supply in non-metered areas would remain suspended twice a week and in metered areas it would be once a week.
Khan further stated that the main reason for the power curtailment this winter is due to over load in the system. We have capacity of 1000MWs and the consumption is 1100. Last year we had 1025 MWs consumption in Valley, Khan said, adding that due to the early arrival of the cold wave, the consumption has reached far more than what was expected.
PDD chief further stated that the usage of heaters and extra gadgets has hiked the consumption graph and that the usage of illegal power connections worsen the situation.
When asked about the illegal supply being provided to influential citizens of the state , Khan said that they do not have any criteria for the electricity supply here. We just have names in the record whether the person is common or having high profile: everyone is equal.
Answering the question that the metered areas do not get the committed supply of electricity here, PDD Chief Engineer accused that people in the metered areas are involved in Hooking and due to that the power supply to these areas get affected. We do not get as much revenue as is expected in the metered areas, people there bypass the meters. He further stated that the department cannot have the inspection squad in every corner of the valley and that people must understand that meters are for their own benefit. (KNS)
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