Srinagar: The Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) will announce within a week the new curtailment schedule for the coming winter to meet the electricity demands in the Valley, a senior official said Monday.
“We did not curtail power this year till now. However the load has increased. We are framing a power curtailment schedule which will be issued within one week,” Chief Engineer KPDCL, Ajaz Ahmad said Monday.
When asked if there were any chances of improved electricity supply this year, Ahmad said the department will ensure sufficient power supply to the people.
However, he quickly put the ball in people’s court saying that if electricity is used judiciously, then there will be improvement in power supply as well.
“We have to optimize things from all available resources,” he said.
Expressing optimism that the this year’s curtailment schedule will have a lot of respite for the Valley consumers, Chief Engineer KPDCL said that various reformatory measures have been taken by the power department in this regard.
However, the consumers in metered areas don’t seem to buy the assurances from the senior power department officer.
“Over the years, the department has been violating its own schedule by resorting to unscheduled power cuts in metered areas,” said one of the residents of Bemina Srinagar.
He said that the extended power cuts surface soon after the Durbar (seat of governance) shifts to Jammu as a bi-annual practice.
A KPDCL official said that on average 1300 MWs of electricity is provided to the consumers across Kashmir. However, with winters setting in, he said the demand reaches 1800 MWs
Another senior official said that if the consumers make judicious use of electricity, there will be no need for long power cuts in the coming months.
“We have seen that power thefts and use of heaters and boilers by the consumers causes the overloading. People should use electricity judiciously so there will be less curtailment,” the official said.
The Centre has been allotting additional 700 MWs of power to Jammu and Kashmir in view of higher demand in winters. But there has been no improvement in Union Territory as authorities have failed to augment the existing infrastructure to receive additional electricity from the central grids.
“Additional allocation of power will overcome power crisis only when required infrastructure is in place. How will we handle additional power when there is no infrastructure available? There will be improvement in power supply only when new girds are commissioned,” the official said.
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