Jammu is in the grip of power crisis. The crisis is man made; to be precise it is PDD-made. There is total absence of coordination among various wings of the burgeoning department. Each wing tries to pass the buck and absolve itself of responsibility. The result is that in the scorching summer people are denied the basic need of power supply. Consequences of not addressing the grievances of general masses of people can be and surely will be grave. It is failure of administration and failure of planning; it is tantamount to taking the people for a ride.
PDD has no dearth of pretexts to put forth and try to wriggle out of blame. For years at end, it kept on harping at pilferage as the malaise. Then with great fanfare, it declared that meters will be put in place to control pilferage and all woes will be remedied. A handsome budget was earmarked for installing meters. Lionizing its grandiose scheme of metering, the PDD went to the length of stating that metered areas would no more face power cuts while un-metered areas would meet with partial cuts. Three years have gone by and the Department has not been able to install meters all over the towns and cities. Power supply continued to dwindle, cuts continued as usual and more, pilferage was not controlled and transmission saw no change. The situation has worsened now as the supply network is reported to be so weak as not to be able to transmit more power. In the scorching summer urban areas are imposed 8 hours power cut a day and some areas have 12 hours cut. Peoples’ life has been made miserable.
Now the PDD has come out with a new plea. It says that owing to absence of sufficient augmentation works, Janipur, Canal and Miran Sahib Grid Stations have become over-loaded during the prevailing scorching heat while as power evacuation from the Pouni Chak Grid Station was not up to the mark due to inadequate transmission lines network. If this is the case, why did not the Department take due cognizance of the situation at proper time and take adequate steps to improve the infrastructure? The Department knows about the need of improving augmentation system that enables supply of more power to consumer units. Why did it not address the need at proper time and before stressing on increasing the power quantum or purchasing more power that could not be distributed owing to lack of augmentation system. If the present sub-transmission and distribution network in major parts of Jammu district is not capable of providing more electricity supply to the people, then the basic discrepancy should have been addressed at proper time instead of making lame excuses and diverting funds to such schemes as have ultimately proved futile and non-productive. We are told that every year there is 10 per cent growth in the demand for electric power but the Department does not indicate whether at the same time it ensures augmentation and up-gradation of the system. That part remains neglected. More disappointing is that notwithstanding the dire requirement for augmentation, PDD failed to utilize Rs. 550 crore financial assistance offered by the Central Power Ministry under Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) scheme.
This is not a happy situation and the Government cannot afford to remain complacent with the enormous suffering of the people in harsh summer. One after another deficiency has brought bad name to the PDD. It is disgusting to know that even if more power is generated or purchased, the existing system is unable to withstand. We know that power crisis is a countrywide phenomenon and J&K is not an exception. It being so, the problem in our state and especially in Jammu is of a different nature. We have water and we have funds provided by the central agencies. Yet we are deprived of regular power supply. Inefficiency and irresponsibility are galore. There is hardly a weak when the media does not highlight power woes. Where are the elected representatives of Jammu and why are they tight-lipped on this issue while on many flimsy issues they become extraordinarily eloquent or critical? All that we can say in this big mess of affairs is that it will have very adverse impact on political alignment in Jammu during the 2014 Assembly elections.
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