Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Sept 30: With the utter failure of Power Development Department (PDD) to clear liability of worth over Rs 37 crores towards private firms repairing electric transformers for the PDD Divisions, the general public in the State is going to suffer badly in coming months as the private Unit holders have stopped working for the Department.
Official sources said that in view of the heavy load of repair work on the Department workshops and their inability to meet demand specially during peak summer months, the PDD has engaged about 32 private firms to ensure smooth functioning of the system and minimize the public sufferings by reducing time of replacing damaged transformers.
While 15 electric transformers manufacturing and repair units exist in Kashmir region, about 17 such units are functional in Jammu region to whom the PDD has out sourced its repair work due to massive load on its Central workshops at Jammu and Srinagar besides other Division level workshops. About Rs 22 crore liability pertains to Kashmir division while, Rs 15 crore of mainly Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur based firms.
The sources further said that during last financial years the previous Government had released Rs 3 crore for Jammu and the same amount for the unit holders from Kashmir but the new Government has not released even a penny so far, forcing the unit holders to strike repair work for the PDD.
The PDD is unable to take the load of repair work especially during peak summer months. It revealed that more than 400 damaged transformers are lying with the units in Kashmir and more than 350 in Jammu region. The PDD’s own workshops are unable to take this load and their capacity is just to perform about 30 % of this work and moreover, department is mainly dependent on private firms.
President, J&K Transformers Manufacturers and Repairs Association, B P Bhalla told the Excelsior that Jammu based firms have already stopped working for the PDD and now Kashmir based unit holders have also given call to stop work as no payment was released to them. Many unit holders have borrowed money from banks and their liabilities have accumulated for the last over three years in huge volume. They have consumed their bank limits and they are now facing crisis. Under such circumstances they are unable to carry on with the job.
Mr Bhalla said that recently delegation of the Unit holders from Jammu met the Dy Chief Minister, in-charge PDD and apprised him the issue and also demanded release of their pending payments but nothing happened. It has been learnt that Minister for Finance Haseeb Drabu and Commissioner/ Secretary Finance, Naveen Choudhary have refused to release the funds. He said the DyCM had assured to provide Rs 10 crore for Jammu firms and the same amount for Kashmir based firms.
“It is unfortunate that PDD released Rs 12 crore for this year for the department workshops for the maintenance/ repair of damaged transformers but the Chief Engineer did not provide any money for the private workshops which are also doing the same job for them, despite the fact that private units have major contribution in this regard. The PDD seeks 8 months warranty for the transformers repaired in the private firms but for the transformers repaired in their own (PDD) workshops, there is no such binding or condition. In most of the cases, the transformers repaired in their own division level workshops get damaged instantly after installation or go defective within couple of days but no one is held responsible. This is another big scandal which is needed to be investigated,” Mr Bhalla maintained.
JD Wani president Kashmir Transformers Manufacturers and Repairs Association, claimed that in last three years, the liability of Kashmir province units has reached up to Rs 22 crore. Many units are facing crisis due to non-payment by the PDD. He said the people in many villages and towns of Kashmir are facing crisis. Nearly 7500 damaged transformers are lying in the PDD’s Central workshop Pampore and many others in division level workshops. They are unable to take this pressure and with the stoppage of work by private firms in Kashmir, the public will have to face crisis. He said PDD Chief Engineer claims that they have no funds. They released Rs 6 crore for the buffer stock in Jammu and Srinagar and Rs 10 crore for up-gradation of own workshops and also provided Rs one crore each for Central workshop Jammu and same amount for CWS Srinagar, but PDD officers say that they have no money. This is mockery of the system. The unit holders met the DyCM and he intends to clear liability but Commissioner/ Secretary refused to release the funds.
With this attitude of the Government, majority of the firms expressing anguish, have refused to continue repair work of transformers and the general public is sure to suffer badly during coming months. The pendency of transformers under repair is also increasing and there is every possibility of rise in the public protests across the State due to grim power scenario.
Dy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh holding Power portfolio when contacted said that he was well aware of the problem of the unit holders. He said that recently a delegation of these unit holders from Jammu and also from Srinagar had met him. Dr Singh said that he has taken up this issue with the Finance Ministry and projected the demand of Rs 20 crore for clearing some of this liability.
Dr Singh said this is old liability of 3-4 years pending during previous regime. He said the matter was also taken up with the Chief Minister. The State is already facing financial crunch and department would try to clear this liability in phased manner as and when the funds are made available. He also referred to the power theft and over loading of the system and said that there is need to curb theft and over loading menace so that rate of damage could be minimized. He admitted nexus of field staff and dishonest consumers and said that a road map has already been prepared to plug this theft. The DyCM further said that he would again discuss the issue with the Association of private firms engaged in Transformer repairs, seeking their support. He also said the payments will be made after proper verification of bills generated during last 3-4 years.
Development Commissioner Power, J&K, Sheikh Ayaz said that he has recently taken over the charge but he was aware of the issue. He said that this is old liability and the department would try to clear it in installments. Mr Wani said that he would collect the details from the Chief Engineers and take up the matter with higher authorities. He said that own workshops are also being upgraded and their capacity is being enhanced.
Chief Engineer, PDD M&RE Jammu, Ashwani Gupta, however, claimed that some liability of these firms was cleared in the recent past and Rs 4 crore was released. He said no doubt these firms are contributing a lot but now the division level and other works are being upgraded. He said that the funds released for maintenance of transformers at Division and Central workshop are not sufficient and therefore, the share of funds can not be given to these firms as department has to run its workshops and ensure repair of transformers throughout the year. He said there is shortage of funds and he has taken up the issue with the higher authorities.
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