Jammu and Kashmir has a typical set of problems: peak power loads in the winters in the Kashmir Valley and peak summer loads in the Jammu region, with no window of an escape route. Things are further complicated by the absence of 100 percent metering and the highest AT&C losses in the country in Jammu and Kashmir. For the last few years, local administration, with complete funding from the GoI, has been trying to streamline the system by removing operational glitches. Various projects under PMDP have been undertaken to augment the transmission and distribution network, and the result is a significant improvement in the power scenario. Smart metering, regularisation of illegal connections, plugging power theft at various levels, and an increase in the power tariff to reduce power revenue losses are a few of the initiatives with positive results. The ability to provide a 10 percent increase in power supply to the Kashmir Division this winter is a significant achievement. Through rural electrification schemes, certain areas like Saddal village have received electricity for the first time after seventy-five years of independence, and similar is the story of Ganouri-Tanta village in the mountainous Doda district, which saw the light of an electric bulb for the first time, ending decades of darkness in the lives of the villagers. Further augmentation works are underway to increase transmission and distribution. MoUs are being signed with PGCIL, RECPDCL, and NTPC for the implementation of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme to further improve the electricity situation in rural as well as urban areas.
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