LG’s intervention puts an end to unscheduled cuts
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Nov 30: People of Jammu and Kashmir are likely to get respite from unscheduled power cuts from tomorrow as Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s intervention has made it possible for the Union Territory to receive additional power supply from the Centre.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Central Power Exchange of the Government of India (GoI) has increased power allocation to J&K by 293 MW from tomorrow, by transferring power from distant power houses in West Bengal, Bihar and even Bhutan.
“This will put an end to the unscheduled power cuts in J&K as the additional power allocation is going to meet the enhanced demand in winters here,” sources added.
Pertinent to mention that due to extreme cold conditions in J&K, demand for power increases in winters while on the other hand, the Union Territory being primarily dependent on hydroelectric power, faces significant fall in generation during these days due to low water level in rivers. Therefore, around 85 percent of power supply during winters is sourced from thermal plants to compensate for the deficit during winters.
While elaborating, sources said that the extra power supply of 293 MW will be received from December 1, 2023 and this is in addition to the recently purchased 500 MW under agreement.
“Keeping in view the enhanced demand and the difficulties being faced by people here due to unscheduled power cuts amid intensifying winters, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha took up the matter with the Union Power Minister R K Singh and facilitated allocation of 293 MW more power to J&K,” sources said.
According to an official communication in this regard to the Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority, New Delhi, the Ministry of Power , Government of India, has decided to allocate 292.99MW power to the UT of J&K from the relinquished share of Bihar in Kahalgaon-I from December 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 to meet the urgent power requirement.
Informing that the cost of additionally purchased 293 MW power is Rs 5 per unit, sources claimed that the UT Government was making every effort to ensure sustainable and firm power availability throughout the year.
“In this direction, during the current financial year, the UT has entered into historic Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for 1600 MW of Solar power , 900 MW from Hydro, and an additional 500 MW from thermal plants, currently in progress following the decision of the UT Administrative Council under the Shakti policy,” said an official spokesperson, adding that this will not only lead towards resource adequacy for the region, but will also provide an optimal mix of Hydro, Thermal, Solar generation, while the efforts are underway to harness wind power as well so that the strength behind renewable energy is utilized to the maximum.
Regarding the hours of power supply to consumers, the spokesperson conveyed that smart metering is under implementation in mission mode and focus is on ensuring uninterrupted and regular power supply in areas saturated with smart meters, while also curbing losses.
Recognizing the urgency, the spokesperson also emphasized on discontinuing the use of obsolete and environmentally unfriendly electric heating systems. The spokesperson also mentioned that numerous crude heaters which have been banned by the department were recovered by the enforcement squads of KPDCL in the recently conducted inspection drives.
In addition to maintaining reliable power supply amidst extreme weather conditions, the Power Development Department (PDD) is proactively engaged in eradicating instances of illegal hooking. In the last seven days itself, inspection teams of KPDCL have conducted 7585 number of inspections in different districts of Kashmir region and imposed a fine of Rs 68 lakhs on the defaulters, spokesperson added.
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