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| Power scenario still bleak; T&D losses at 57.40 percent, purchase touches Rs 4000 crore | | After NC's 5 years, 5 months in office! | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, May 9: National Conference (NC)-Congress coalition Government is just five months away from facing assembly election and the promise of improving the power scenario drastically has seemingly remained un-kept.
Power purchase has gone up from Rs. 1783.696 crore in 2008-09 to Rs. 4103.084 crore in year 2012-13. Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses 61.31 percent in March 2009 when the new Government took over have shown marginal decline and if the state Government reports are to be relied upon, those losses have reduced by 4 percent during the last 5 five years.
Since the figures for year 2013-14 are yet to be made public, T&D losses in March 2013 were 57.40 percent. Government has officially accepted that these high losses are due to out-dated system which needs upgradation and improvement but despite the department being with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Government has miserably failed to make any concrete move towards improving the power distribution system during the last five and half years.
Apart from focussing on metering, state Government has failed to control theft, uncontrolled, unaccounted consumption of power beyond agreed load, unregistered consumers and lesser contract demand. Apart from taking reviews and meetings, the new Power Secretary Arun Mehta has seemingly done nothing substantial to improve the power scenario in the state.
To make the matters worse, Annual Transmission and Consumption (AT&C) losses have reduced from 70.69 percent in 2008-09 to 64.06 in March 2013. Barring the year 2012-13, the losses remained extremely high during the last three financial years viz. 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. They touched the highest of 74.23 percent in 2010-11 yet the state Government has for the reasons best known to it fixed the target for the year 2013-14 which is its last financial year in power at 53.57 percent.
Ask for the reasons and you would be told that nothing has changed but the figures are meant to show a rosy picture in the last year before the assembly elections are held in the state. The power purchase bill has gone up with little or no respite in the offing till the last day of this Government in power. The revenue has shown marginal increase and that too because of payments made by PHE department.
Northern Region Power Committee (NRPC) has in its deliberations and meetings since March 2009 kept reprimanding the state for not paying the dues on time and at times, even threatened of snapping power supply. Committee has repeatedly informed PDD about having received umpteen representations from various power distributors and suppliers from across the country of J&K not making payment regularly.
But nothing has changed. J&K did make a huge payment of Rs. 600 crores in the last 5 and half years but this was after NRPC issued threat. This payment was made public through newspapers and other media outlets. The ministry publicised it as if the state had achieved a remarkable feat but did not make a mention of recurring and other charges again having crossed Rs. 300 crores.
The only remarkable feat of the J&K Government which it has been boasting about is the creation of Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPP) where NC patron and Union Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah's close friend and ex-Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank M.Y. Khan has been rehabilitated. Several hydroelectric projects have been given to private companies without getting a written assurance from them that they would adhere to deadlines and also not lie about the terrain of the area where they are constructing the project. |
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