Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has announced his Government’s serious intention of bringing about a revolution of sorts in power sector impacting generation, transmission and distribution of power in the State. The announcement was made on the occasion of inauguration of Phase II of Re-structured Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (R-APDRP-II) for Jammu division. The scheme is aimed to tone up power position in Jammu city and about 10 cities of Jammu Division which have been facing acute power shortage for quite some time. The project has already been launched in Srinagar. It is estimated that about 237002 consumers will derive benefit from the scheme. It is expected to overcome to a large extent the shortage of power during peak season; it is also hoped that load shedding which had become so frequent and which very often damaged the transformers will be overcome with the onset of the project.
The Chief Minister has painted a bright picture of good prospects of power generation, transmission and distribution in the State in near future. Of course we are not as yet self-sufficient in the sector of power, but it shall have to be admitted that besides major power generating projects, a dozen or more of small generating units have also been made functional which are estimated to be creating 900 MWs and augmenting the supply of power to some of the remote places. It is true that being a hilly State, we have good prospect of establishing small units of power generation for which only moderate expenditure needs to be incurred. Obviously since the smaller projects have become successful, we believe that this exercise will not stop with what has already been achieved but will continue further. More sites will be identified for developing smaller units.
We are living in 21st century and power is the mainstay of modern life. Whether our people live in far off villages or nearby towns, electricity has to be provided to each and every household. The policy of the Government to ensure that holistic development is pursued is something that should bring satisfaction. Along with this, the Government has plans also for Phase II and Phase III of Baglihar power generating project. Once these additional phases are completed, the Government thinks it will be a big step towards self sufficiency in the matter of power.
We have been raising the question of shortage of power very often because we needed to give voice to the problems of the people. We have also been emphasizing that power is of highest priority in the State. It is a matter of satisfaction that the Chief Minister has come out with comprehensive policy of his Government in addressing the power shortage and the long range plans it has conceived. We hope and wish that all these efforts and visions come true and people of the State are relieved of a recurring problem of power shortage.
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