Vikram Gaur
As the mercury rises (in summer) or dips (as in winter) and the temperature exceeds 40-degrees or falls below 10- degrees, your attention is immediately diverted to the devices that can provide you some relief against the sweltering heat or freezing winter. The obvious choice is cooling devices or heating appliances to keep temperature around you within the acceptable limits of tolerance. If you are sitting idle and like to watch a TV And if you are fortunate to have any or all these gadgets you are a happy person. But unfortunately, your happiness depends on availability of electricity as all these gadgets run on only Electricity and it is here that your unhappiness starts.
The supply of electricity depends on JKPDD, the electricity supplying agency (Utility) of the Government. When PDD cuts off your supply (at what time of the day), it is only they who know. Or may be even they do not know. It is only the overloaded dilapidated/in shambles power distribution system that compels them to cut off power supply to save their overloaded infrastructure/equipment from getting damaged.
In the existing circumstances as on today it may be mentioned that not too long back PDD would pre-inform the public about the power cuts which were as per the schedule notified through media and one remained prepared to deal with the situation in advance. But for the last couple of years there is no scheduled program of power supply prepared in advance and the shutdown is affected as and when required/forced. This obviously has tremendously increased the public inconvenience in the sweltering hot summer or freezing winter besides adversely affecting the industry, trade, commerce, water supply, agriculture and normal working of one and all. Obviously, there must be some reasons for this ad-hoc, unforeseen and unscheduled power cuts/breakdowns that presently have made the life of common man miserable.
Yes, there are reasons and several reasons one can give for this unmanageable power system that follows no rule of any standard code or ignores the directions of the JK State Electricity Regulatory Commission as far as maintenance of power distribution network is concerned. Hanging loose conductors, bent poles, loose binding, ill maintained distribution transformers and 33-kv stations and of course, overloaded system all help to tremendously increase the forced power cuts.
The overloading of the distribution system from 33kv downwards is because of unchecked and unmetered use of power right up to the consumer level. Large scale unauthorized use of power, even by genuine consumers and almost 50% of unmetered regular connections encourage the users to go far unchecked use of free power that results in overloading the system and add to this enormous theft of power by illegal hooking of power lines. Therefore the power cuts.
By their own admission, the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses are as high as around 55-60 %. If 15-16% T&D losses are taken to be the permissible losses (as per national standard), the loss due to theft and misuse amounts to 40-45%. The total curtailed energy required during 2013-14 was 12,070 MU and with overall T&D losses of 53.5 % PDD sold only 5849-MU. The cost of purchase of power (12,070-MU) with overhead charges during 2013-14 is reported to be Rs 5,043.12 crores where as the revenue assessed/realized was only Rs 1,777.41 resulting in loss of Rs 3,265.71-crores. This works out to a total gross loss of around 70% to the State Exchequer through PDD in sale/purchase of Electricity. This loss is almost about 50% of the State’s total annual Budget. Only if the JKPDD could cut down the T&D losses by checking theft and misuse of power and metering 100% of the consumers, they will not only be surplus in power but would also increase their revenue many fold. Along with this if a’ good and efficient management of PDD/Government comes out with powerful media campaign for conservation and fair use of electricity through TV, Press, radio and the NGOs and informs public about the rules and regulations governing the power supply with strict enforcement, a lot of improvement in the situation can be affected.
It can, therefore, be seen that oft-repeated assertion by the state Government that the state is extremely deficit in power is not true. All that is required to make ‘Deficit Power System to a Surplus system’ is that the state/PDC/PDD sincerely, effectively and efficiently manages Power Sector as per the latest methodology by truly unbundling the Power sector into autonomous and independent entities, free it from the political control, adopt latest technology to manage this most important vital sector on which depends the all round progress of the state.
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