Kashmir has again plunged into a power crisis with massive outages after the aministration’s “hesitancy” in acquiring additional power. The power department said that the curtailments will increase for ”high loss” areas as procuring more power needs funds.
For the past few days, people across the valley are reeling under 10-15 hours of power cuts every day, up from 4.5 to 8 hours curtailments earlier in both metered and non-metered areas. The outages come even as the power distribution department revised and increased the load agreements with flat-rate customers by 25 to 50% in a one-sided decision.
People have expressed outrage over the way power situation is evolving in Kashmir Valley, particularly as the Muslim majority region is going to welcome the holy month of Ramadan by March 11.
Expressing anguish over the frequent power cuts all over the valley, Peoples Democratic Party general secretary Gh Nabi Lone Hanjura said that despite the administration’s claims of improved and adequate power supply, load shedding across the Valley has crippled normal life.
“On one hand, department concerned claims that it had reduced power thefts and increased revenue and improved infrastructure, but on the other hand, increased power curtailments have affected business fraternity and students preparing for exams. Patients on ventilators too have been affected,” Lone said.
{{/usCountry}}“On one hand, department concerned claims that it had reduced power thefts and increased revenue and improved infrastructure, but on the other hand, increased power curtailments have affected business fraternity and students preparing for exams. Patients on ventilators too have been affected,” Lone said.
{{/usCountry}}Power development department principal secretary H Rajesh Prasad acknowledged that there were issues with power availability for the past two days. “There was some extra demand owing to snowfall and some issues with the procurement. The little issues with the procurement are now sorted out. We are procuring the same power which was in winter,” he said.
He said that they will try to maintain the minimum curtailment schedule during Ramadan.
The Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) on Saturday announced that the “unavoidable” outages were due to limited power availability.
“Due to limited power availability and resulting restrictions, there has been an unavoidable increase in power curtailment. This is crucial to uphold grid discipline and prevent the opening of trunk lines and widespread blackouts. Rest assured, restrictions will be eased once power availability improves,” it said in a post on micro-blogging platform “X”.
In early December, J&K, with a power requirement of 2,800 MW, had faced a deficit of 1,400 MW, prompting the Union power ministry to allocate an additional 472 MW under shakti policy.