Pupuji Kaul
Come summer and the electricity is haywire and it is seldom seen to operate the gadgets of electricity that provide some relief to the people from scorching heat. Even for the necessaries of life like water consumers feel the pain because of the irregular supply of the power and the people fail to get adequate water for drinking, bathing and for performing other functions which are totally dependent on water and the water is dependent on the electricity as the water motors function only with electricity.
The need and importance of electricity is very great in hot summers and it is indispensable for the lives of the people and its irregularity and absence gives pain to the consumers .This summer the unscheduled cuts in electricity have begun in April and perhaps it is the first time that electricity is playing hide and seek in the month of April and putting the public to great inconvenience and sufferings and people fear that the absence of regular electricity will make the life of people miserable in the coming months of the summer when mercury rises further and it becomes very difficult to pass life with irregular and unscheduled electricity. There should be uninterrupted supply of electricity in the summer season but it is fact that the power supply is most erratic in the months of severe heat and it becomes very difficult for the people to spend life in the absence of regular electricity when the mercury goes up in summer season.
The consumers feel the pain of inadequate power supply and they are forced to tolerate the sufferings in the absence of the regular electricity. The fact is that the consumers by and large pay the electricity tariff in time at higher rates but they are not provided the adequate supply of power by the Power Development Department and this lands the consumers of Jammu province in trouble as they have to bear the scorching heat in absence of the regular electricity .Sadly this year the erratic supply of electricity and the unscheduled power cuts began earlier in the April month which otherwise used to remain good so far as the position of electricity and rising of temperatures is concerned.
The Government has declared Jammu and Srinagar as smart cities with all the modern facilities and the work on making Jammu and Srinagar as smart cities has begun but Jammu is reeling under the electricity shortage and people are suffering a lot in the absence of regular electricity. The people fear that if the position of electricity remains such as it is today in the hot summer month of April ,one could better imagine the worst power position in the summer months ahead .Government has still to complete the Smart Metering and thus in the absence of smart metering the consumers have to bear the brunt of the irregular and unscheduled power supply in the summer season. Notwithstanding the tall claims of the Government of providing 24×7 electricity to consumers, the ground situation and position of electricity is far from this as the consumers are facing the difficulties and hardships because of the irregular and erratic power supply and the claims of the Government are punctured and the plight of the consumers is going bad from worse because of the inadequate electricity supply .
The Government is failing to harness the hydro electric power potential of the Jammu and Kashmir and the result is this that the people of the Union Territory have to face the erratic power supply in the summer months. The Government spends huge amounts of finance on the production of the hydroelectric power but in spite of all this the position of the power scenario is worsening day by day and putting the consumers to trouble because the people have to spend many hours of the summer days and nights without the required electricity .
The government is making efforts to electrify all villages and remotest areas and is about to make the country and this UT of Jammu and Kashmir to get hundred percent electricity. Thus on one side the Government is embarking on to make the country cent percent electrified but on the other side it fails to provide the required and adequate electric supply to the already electrified places even the cities and towns.
The consumers and the general public is made to suffer due to the bad policies of the government so far as the provision of the adequate and uninterrupted electric supply is concerned .The provision and the declaration of providing 24×7 electricity is a mirage and is utopian as there seems no way to attain the uninterrupted and hassle free power supply especially in the summer season when mercury touches very high. During the summers the people should be provided hassle free and uninterrupted electricity so that they live with ease .
It can produce and supply power to other states as well but it seems to be a mere dream. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of 850MWRatle Hydroelectric Project on river Chenab through the joint venture of NHPC and JKHDPC at an estimated cost of Rs 5281 crore on 24th of April and with the completion of this project it is hoped to make Jammu and Kashmir become an electricity surplus and it can supply power to other States.
The consumers should also co-operate with the Government and use the electricity very judiciously and should not use electric gadgets at the peak hours and should not indulge in electric theft.