Winters Tale

But government pretends as if the curtailment in winter is an accepted fact of life in the region. It could be so if it was not for the higher benchmark set by the current government in this regard. Last winter the Valley received a relatively better supply of electricity.  People expect the government to work to provide a reasonable supply of electricity so as to make it easier to deal with the harsh cold. One hardly expects the administration to pass orders banning the sale of heating gadgets.

Metered areas have a right to an uninterrupted supply as the residents pay for the electricity they consume. In past, the metered areas did receive round-the-clock supply. But this is no longer the case. While the aim, by no means, is to show the previous administrations in an uncritical positive light, people are bound to ask as to why the present administration has failed to improve upon its own performance from the previous three winters.  It is time that the administration thinks through the question and formulates an answer for the people of the state.

The debate about power in Valley, however, doesn’t stop with the availability of the electricity through winter. It is a much larger debate about the inability of the successive governments to meet the domestic demand for power out of the region’s own water resources. The issue is simple and it is this: we are a region that exports electricity but purchases power at a hefty cost for its own consumption. This calls for the government to strategize and act to ensure that if not in the near to medium future but atleast in the long term, we have adequate electricity for winter.