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| Visionary measures, not magic wand, can reform power sector | | |
VIKRAM GAUR
Jammu, Sept 1: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds the Power Department, just can’t wish away the challenge of reforms by handing over the answering job in assembly to Tourism Minister Rigzin Jora as there is no magic wand to bring the transmission and distribution losses down and put the sector in stream of discipline. Need of the hour is drastic remedial measures.
After keenly going through the statements made in the Legislative Assembly on reduction of Transmission and Distribution losses from the currently prevailing rate of 72 per cent, it is important to clarify here that T&D loss is a misnomer as the huge loss figure includes large scale unchecked theft of power in the entire state.
These losses are mainly due to the following reasons:- Out of the existing about 19-lac house holders only a little over 11-lacs are genuine registered power consumers, rest of the users are committing theft of power;
Out of the 11-lac registered consumers only 48% are metered; The state government installations including PHE, Health, Education, Agriculture and all other offices and official residences/quarters are either running without proper connection or are unmetered. These installations are, therefore, indulging in gross misuse/wastage of electricity; Transmission and distribution system upto the consumer end is absolutely out dated below any recognized standard and is heavily overloaded which obviously results in higher losses; The existing network is not being properly maintained because of non-availability of adequate funds and preventive maintenance is nonexistent, only breakdown maintenance is carried out when required.
Any reduction in loss figure of 72% is not possible if the remedial measures are not taken to address the above stated short comings. The PDD did try to reduce the losses by installing Electronic meters and during the last more than five years only about 48 % of the installations could be metered that too in the urban area only. And this did have very salutary effect over reduction in losses and the power consumption in the metered areas reduced almost by 50% reducing the over loading of the feeders and consequently reduction in power cuts. But since the formation of the new government the power sector is not being taken seriously except for some lip-service and therefore situation has worsened and crept back to the original position.
The present government and the minister concerned i.e. the CM has no time to attend to his power ministry which is costing the exchequer over 2,000-crores of losses. That is why every time the tourism minister has to reply to the queries of the worried MLAs. In his recent reply on the floor of the LA, Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, on behalf of the CM made a very interesting assertion that the power losses will be reduced to 15% by 2012 by the magic wand of APDRP Accelerated Power Development Reforms Program. The tourism Minister who was Power Minister in the last government knows it well that the funds under APDRP were made available by the GOI during his previous tenure as well for the same purpose and those funds were misused for purposes other than reducing the power losses without carrying out any mandatory power sector reforms and metering the entire system from receiving end to the consumer premises. This was required to carry out ‘Energy Audit’ to pin point the responsibility at various levels for the unprecedented losses that the PDD was causing to the exchequer. If the losses could not be reduced then how could the present government bring down the losses to 15% by 2012 ? Yes, this might give the present government a long rope to play with the funds under APDRP.
No amount of funds, year after year, from GOI is going to reduce the T&D power losses and help the state authorities to improve the power supply so vital and essential for all round development of the state unless the government has the will to improve the Power sector; Carries out long over due power sector reforms; Unbundles the power sector into autonomous Generation, Transmission and Distribution sectors; Privatizes all sectors as much as possible; Restores completely the authority of the State Electricity Regulatory Authority and Stops political interference in the working of the Power sector and allows it to function as an autonomous commercial entity.
All efforts to pump in more and more money without scientific planning according to the accepted international standards shall fail and damage the system beyond repairs.
(AUTHOR IS AN EXPERT ON ENERGY AFFAIRS AND A VIVID COMMENTATOR)
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