The Principal Secretary of the Power Development Department (PDD) conducted an exhaustive evaluation of the prevailing power supply scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, specifically in the Kashmir valley, amidst plummeting temperatures. Within the purview of the review, it was conveyed that a meticulous curtailment schedule, intricately tailored to the available power reservoirs in the region, has been meticulously devised. However, the power landscape in Jammu and Kashmir finds itself ensnared in a myriad of challenges, with the preeminent quandary being the lamentable state of revenue collection. The department, perennially plagued by astronomical AT&C losses spanning decades, stands in a state of abject ruination. Despite recurrent directives emanating from the Central Government, the Power Department of the Union Territory has woefully failed to effect substantial reforms. Despite an infusion of exorbitant sums into the augmentation of power infrastructure, the prospect of tangible achievements remains elusive in the absence of revenue generation. The protracted pursuit of 100 percent metering, initiated with grandiosity, invariably culminates in a fizzling denouement.
The scourge of pilferage, pervasive to an alarming degree, persists with impunity even in ostensibly sophisticated, smart-metered zones. The twin bastions of power administration in Jammu and Kashmir, in a display of conspicuous inadequacy, have failed egregiously in purging their ranks of certain elements felicitating the pilferage in metered zones. The upshot of this egregious failure manifests in an unprecedented deluge of power outages, leaving the populace to fend for themselves. The deleterious consequences are particularly acute for vulnerable segments, such as students and patients. A formidable imperative confronts the department: the formulation of a strategic blueprint to extricate itself from the quagmire of losses, institute comprehensive metering protocols, and robustly recoup revenue. Absent resolute action in this direction, the ominous spectre looms large, wherein fiscal constraints will preclude the procurement of electricity, perpetuating a disconcerting cycle of scheduled and unscheduled power curtailments. The era of gratuitous electricity largesse is unsustainable; higher echelons of authority must marshal their efforts to staunch this debilitating tide.
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