The scenario of supplying of electricity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir has traditionally been that of confusion, chaos, false projections and tall promises despite many small and big power projects having been built over the years. Successive Governments keep on showing lolly pops to people like by this and that year , full self sufficiency in generation and subsequent distribution of power would be achieved , even surplus could be exported. On the contrary, each year, newer problems are cited and for common citizens alibis are put forth as reasons of unsatisfactory power position. People of Jammu and Kashmir ask the UT Government as also the Central Government to come clean and clear about the likely date by which situation of power availability would be an assured reality rather than a total hotchpotch about it . After each and every experimentation in power area , assurance is given about “now” the power availability to be on 24×7 non-stop basis like laying single cable up to the feeding electric poles /points in residential and commercial areas. Thereafter ,installing smart metres would do ”wonders” and so on but on the ground , the situation is more or less quite hopeless.
We are receiving numerous calls even of SoS nature from the citizens across Jammu city who have to go without power for hours together and that too in a confusion of when to avail of it and when to go without it or to face undeclared, unscheduled and unspecified power cuts. It can only be imagined as to the extent of plight of the people to adjust and manage without power for five to six hours at a stretch and that too many times during the 24 hours of day and night . Housewives, aged and the sick as also the children are worst sufferers. Many people indignantly ask that dreams of Smart City and other similar projects are meaningless, absolutely a ruse when the people in this unbearable heat have to use stone age hand fans to keep them a bit at ease. Nights without power are a nightmare . Perishable items of daily use like milk, costly vegetables, poultry products , food etc get wasted just within four to five hours in a fridge without power and that is added disadvantage .
What sort of development and which type of welfare of the people like claims are made who , generally speaking, after honestly paying their electric bills in time are denied power supply and thus virtually punished . Under one excuse or the other , power department may be conducting repairs, laying improved infrastructure, installing new and smart metering , streamlining and reforming the PDD and other measures , we find the same unchanged position. A couplet reminding of excuses and alibis like…”Kabhi sar dard hai unn ko , kabhi heela hai mehandi ka,; hamarey ghar na aaney ka bhana ho he jata hai …” is true of the power situation in Jammu and Kashmir wherein the Government appears to have failed to ameliorate the suffering condition of the people on account of lavish and long power cuts and this scenario is going on for decades. Industries too are suffering who want some immediate relief to bail them out of the imminent loss of product output due to prolonged power cuts.
While at many places, installing of smart metres on electric poles have been completed, there are numerous areas where this work is going on at a snail’s pace and for doing it, the power supply of those areas is stopped for six to seven hours at a stretch and this has been going on for weeks together. In many instances , the electric poles installed haphazardly and un-professionally touching the boundary walls of some houses , the personnel installing these smart metres install them just casually but in any case it is not known how long this process even takes place due to which added prolonged power cuts are borne by the residents of these areas. We feel the remaining work on this count should be undertaken only after the peak hot and humid summer months of April to September so that some relief is felt by the people of such areas on account of stopping of added power disruption.
Not only prolonged power cuts are to be borne by the people and suffer difficulties but water scarcity too has hit most of the areas as water supply points could not get water from pumps due to power cuts . In this respect rural areas are reported to be worst hit. We are not here , at the moment, interested in enumerating the causes of power crisis , the mismatch between the increasing demand for and static supply of power, unsatisfactory revenue earning position and non realisation of heavy outstanding of electric bills from bigwigs but how soon to rid the people of the frequently and of long duration disruption of power supply power problem faced by them . We know the problems currently faced by the Power department on account of low discharge of water in the rivers affecting generation and therefore some sort of minimal sacrifice may be warranted but not nearly a 12 hour cut , as that is simple torture of the people.
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