Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Sept 2: Despite reminders from Raj Bhavan, the Power Development Department (PDD) has failed to furnish report on the ongoing controversy with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) over payment of charges for electricity used for construction of 390 Mw Dulhasti Hydel Power Project in Kishtwar.
“Though the Governor’s Secretariat has sent some reminders to the top officials of the PDD to furnish the factual report on the state of affairs, the latter hasn’t yet responded back with necessary details so far”, reliable sources confirmed.
Sources stated that the Governor had desired to know the reason of the ongoing stand-off between PDD and NHPC. “A detailed note with several queries had been forwarded to the officials of PDD in the first week of this month”, sources added.
A controversy has erupted after NHPC refused to pay Rs 246 crores as charges for electricity consumed during construction of Dulhasti hydel project. “NHPC had drawn electricity from Salal Power Project during the construction of 390 Mw Dulhasti hydel Power Project in Kishtwar without the concurrence of State authorities. However, the State Government had raised serious objections of direct withdrawal of electricity without seeking the consent of PDD”.
The State Government officials have claimed that since PDD was the only authorized power distributor of the State, the direct transfer of power from Salal to Dulhasti tantamount to ‘illegal’ use of power.
“The PDD officials in their communication to the NHPC have claimed that the move of latter to withdraw power from Salal to Dulhasti from 1992 – 2002 amounts to contravention of laid down guidelines for power usage. Subsequently, the State official did a detailed exercise to evaluate the loss to the exchequer on account of illegal transfer of power between the two entities”, sources said.
Sources added, “after considering various parameters, the State Government officials claimed that NHPC owed nearly Rs 346 crores to the PDD for illegal use of power. But, NHPC incumbents refused to entertain this claim of the PDD and have not paid a single penny to the State Government in this case”.
Annoyed over the refusal of the NHPC to clear dues, the State Government has deducted Rs 169 crores from the amount payable to the former for purchase of power. Besides, the Government has also blocked another Rs 169 crores payable to the NHPC on another pretext so as to recover the due amount.
Meanwhile, source in the PDD Department said, “to find a solution to this fiasco the State Government officials have also decided to hold confabulations with incumbents of the Union Power Ministry. The meeting, which is likely to take place soon, has been organized with the objective of resolving the ongoing controversy between NHPC and the State Government officials”.
Responding to the failure of the PDD to submit detailed report to Raj Bhavan so far, an official on condition of anonymity said, “the incumbents of the Department are fine tuning the details and will submit the same to Governor’s Secretariat soon”.
Earlier, taking congnizance of reports over the dispute between the two entities, the Raj Bhavan has sought a detailed report from the PDD officials. “A factual report in this matter may kindly be communicated to this Secretariat for the kind appraisal of the Governor”, says the communiqué from Raj Bhavan to the PDD Department in the first week of August.
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