SRINAGAR: As bone chilling cold sweeps Kashmir, power woes are only adding to the misery of inhabitants with most of the areas of in the valley facing curtailments for nearly six to seven hours per day.
Power breakdowns even hit areas like Dalgate- Boulevard stretch- the prime destination for tourists arriving in Kashmir. The area is reeling under darkness: since the outset of winter unscheduled curtailments in the area of nearly seven hours per day have led to a public uproar.
As per the official schedule, there is a 3 hour curtailment in metered areas and 5 hours curtailment in unmetered areas. But on ground, the situation is quite different. This is causing problems to both residents and business people in the area.
The curtailment schedule is out of order, sometimes the light comes for few hours and then it does not come for the entire day. There are no fixed curtailment hours. It has become nuisance here. I have a shawl business .My business is suffering badly. This is a high end tourist area. Tourists come here to buy different items but there is no proper light in the area. What you are going to show them in darkness, rued Mohammad Amin a business man who runs a small handicrafts business at the Boulevard.
From the states perspective, the problem is that of a supply demand disconnect. According to official figures, the state is currently facing a shortfall of around 5,600 million units (MUs) of power per year. The hydel generation capacity of the state is around 2457.96 MW, comprising 760 MW in the state sector, 1,680 MW in the central sector and 17.5 MW in the private sector.
However, people have a different narrative to offer.
The state governments are slaves of central government. There is high end corruption. When there is no power what they are going to supply to people of Kashmir, it is taken by central government. Our resources are being used for others, government doesnt care about it as they are taking millions of rupees from the centre, said Sajjad Hakeem a dealer of Kashmiri arts in Dalgate area.
This is validated to some extent by a PDD official, Parvaiz Ahmed, The state gets 12 percent of the power generated from National Hydro Electric Power Corporation of India (NHPC) projects as royalty. The rest is to be purchased. The biggest buyer of power from NHPC is J&K itself, whose water resources are tapped for power generation.
As per official documents, the generation capacity, which registered an increase of about 180 percent from the 8th plan to the end of 11th plan, has not been commensurate with the exponential demand in the state. The 18th Electric Power Survey report published by the Ministry of Power said the state would have a peak load of 4,217 MW in 2o21-22, with an energy requirement of 21,884MUs.The estimated hydropower potential of the state is about 20,000 MW, of which 16,475 MW (11,283 MW of the Chenab, 3,084 MW of the Jehlum, 1,608 MW of the Indus and 500 MW of the Ravi) has been identified.
We pay a bill of Rs 7000 per month without any proper supply of electricity. There are nearly eight to nine hours curtailments every Monday and Friday. Tourists are not coming as we are unable to give them proper facilities. This is a commercial area as well as prime tourists area for staying, but due to governments approach we are facing tough problems, said Tanveer Ahmed, a manager at Hotel Malik Palace.
On the one hand, government says we are promoting tourism but on the other hand we dont have proper basic facilities for them, he added.
Showkat Banday, Superintendent Engineer at PDD attributed the problem to overloading. He asserted, Overloading is one of the prime problems which have led to frequent curtailments in most parts of Srinagar. We are 50 percent deficit in electricity right now, so there will be curtailments of three hours in metered areas and 5 hours in unmetered areas. When it was pointed out to him there are eight to nine hours curtailments per day in many areas, Showkat Banday did not respond but added, We are trying our best to maintain a proper schedule but due to overloading it is not happening.
When asked about the unscheduled shutdown of electricity on Monday and Friday in Dalgate- Boulevard area, the Superintendent Engineer said, We are repairing lines of certain catchment areas and Inshallah by 25th December there will be proper electricity in the area,.
Meanwhile, Chief Engineer Bashir Ahmed PDD promised action, I will look into the matter if at somewhere there is curtailment of more than four hours per day. Strict action will be taken accordingly, he assured.
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