Massive power failure of Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern regions power grids brought life to a grinding halt in at least half of the country. The massive failure came less than 24 hours after the Northern Grid collapsed and was revived two days later. It is an unprecedented failure in the history of power supply in the country when 21 states went without power. It is rather impossible to imagine the difficulties it caused to the people. In particular, power failure adversely affected some emergency services like hospitals, metros, mines, etc. 300 trains were disrupted in seven zones in 10 States. Nearly 300 miners got trapped in coal mines in West Bengal region and their safety had become a matter of intense anxiety till they were rescued. Likewise some metros in Delhi were trapped in tunnels and thus became a great cause of concern for the safety of life. Virtually life came to a standstill for 24 hours when power was restored partially in Northern and Eastern Grids. This harrowing experience will make us think how much dependent life is on power supply and how far this service is the most essential one in a country like India.
The off hand reason given by concerned authorities for the collapse of inter-state grids at one and the same time is that the states falling within the jurisdiction of respective grids have been overdrawing power and the supply sources could not withstand the pressure of demand. Though this cannot be the real and the only reason for disruption of power supply to such a vast region almost the half of India yet assuming that over-drawing is the cause, the question is what have been the concerned authorities and engineers looking after the grids doing all the time? When it is known to them that these grids have a definite delivery capacity, how did they allow any state to overdraw the limit authorized to it? Is it a free go for all the States to draw power at their will and not conform to guidelines provided by the national grid authorities? The reaction of the States to the blame of having overdrawn is simple and not too unexpected. They are in a denial mood. Punjab has categorically said that its over-drawing was negligible and not more than 1.5 per cent. Other States will follow suit. It is difficult to establish which state overdrew how much of power.
Power shortage is a perennial problem with India and with many other countries in the world. As our population is growing at a fast speed and means of subsistence are decreasing, we are unable to keep balance between supply and demand. The case is much more complicated in the matter of our State. Ironically though we have the large scope for establishing network of mini hydroelectric power projects in far off villages and regions, we are also confronted with acute power problem that sometimes forces people to come out on streets and stage anti-government demonstrations. In normal course of things, the States like J&K should not have become part of a system that would make it totally dependent. It is here that the difficulty of the State Government comes to the fore. We shall have to repeat the suggestion that a State like J&K has the potential of having independent power generation system that makes it less dependent on national or regional power grids. It has to be a very well thought-out and calculated policy of making the State self-sufficient in the most important item of infrastructure and that is power. Having mega hydroelectric power generating projects like Salaal or Uri Project in the valley is all right and we need to be essential partners in its dividends, but notwithstanding that, the example of grid failures has made it sufficiently clear that we should have the alternative system in hand. We could have small cottage level hydroelectric power generating centres at various places where there is free flow of water needed for local generation of power. Thus instead of getting bogged down with mega projects we could make a shift in our power strategy.
Additionally, more emphasis has to be laid on natural and renewable energy system which primarily includes solar system. Solar energy generation and distribution is still not in full swing in the State. But there is no escaping from that alternative source of power. The State Government is also considering thermal power production in the state and the Coal Minister has announced his support in any project which the Government of J&K would take to boost its power production system. This is a big lesson we have learnt from the ongoing crisis in power distribution system in the three grids to which our state is also a shareholder.
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