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| Failing projects worth thousands of crores, PDD dishes out fresh plans to save electricity | | Height of shamelessness! | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 12: After miserably failing to implement the most vital Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP), the state PDD has come up with a new mantra to plunder peoples' money once again.
As per the reports coming to fore, the Power development department has submitted a proposal to the government asking to approve the purchase of new meters that if installed could save electricity in large quantity. Such a shameless action under the garb of which the PDD is tying to hide its utter failures is being ridiculed all across in the state.
There are questions being raised that when the PDD even failed to implement much vital schemes sponsored by the central government, with which face is it submitting the new proposals that will again incur hundreds of crores out of the state exchequer. "It is a fact that the PDD has informed the government that this winter, it is contemplating the option of installing new meters that are smarter enough to save electricity in the state," divulged a senior official privy to the development.
However, ironically, the government has so far failed to crack a whip against the helmsmen in the PDD who have failed to implement the Government of India sponsored project called Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) .
Launched in the year 2011, Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) had a focus to reduce aggregate technical and commercial losses in power distribution and management across state utilities. A Private firm was selected to establish reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of accurate baseline data for Jammu and Kashmir Power Development, as well as enhance adoption of information technology in the areas of energy accounting.
As the transmission and distribution losses mount in the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the consumers bearing the brunt of load shedding, the scheme was launched amid much fanfare with the aim to reduce the T&D losses.
For the first phase of the project, the Central government had sanctioned Rs.151.99 crores under R-APDRP while an amount of Rs.1665.27 crores had been approved for the second phase of this vital project. These schemes were proposed to be taken up under National Electricity Fund for which Rural Electrification Corporation is the nodal agency. Under this scheme 30 towns have been identified as project areas in J&K state with population of above 10,000 as per 2001 census. For this purpose, the government had already taken a pilot exercise and some 30 towns have been identified as project areas in J&K, another 283 towns with population of over 4000 have also been identified that will be covered in the second phase. Phase -1 of 283 towns is to cost Rs. 171.61 crores and phase-2 will cost Rs. 1073.33 crores. These projects were proposed to be taken up under Phase-II of R-APDRP through a special dispensation which could not materialize.
As the deadline for the completion of the project was set as March 31, 2018. More than six months later, the project is nowhere visible on ground.
One wonders that with what face the PDD is dishing out the new ideas when old projects are lying around it like the dry dead flowers.
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