Sagar rues Govt apathy towards severe power crisis in Kashmir

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 16: National Conference (NC) general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar today expressed dismay over the prevailing power crisis in Kashmir, saying the longer and unscheduled power cuts have disturbed the daily lives of people.
Since October, ever since the J&K administration shut its offices in the summer capital of Srinagar to move to winter capital of Jammu, the entire Kashmir division has literally plunged into darkness with elderly, students and patients at the receiving end of it, Sagar said while expressing concern over the looming power crisis in Kashmir.
“Come winters and the valley is beset with darkness, the scenario has worsened this year drastically. The erratic power supply is playing hide and seek with the Government, in particular the civil administration, has left people to fend for themselves. The hapless consumers don’t know how to brave the ongoing chill with no adequate power supply. Amidst all the student community has incurred the major hit on account of the approaching exams,” he said.
He further said the load shedding schedule has gone for a toss and most areas are facing day long outages. “This has never been the scenario with the power distribution in Kashmir. Unfortunately the decreasing governance in Kashmir has coincided with the abrogation of the state’s unique status,” he added.
Alleging that Kashmir power shortages stem from a host of factors ranging from inadequate infrastructure, transmission loss and increasing usage of the ever growing population, Sagar regretted that the Government has left the entire issue unattended.
“Nothing substantial has been done to augment the infrastructure since 2014. What added to the worries of people is the failure of the Government to fill the power deficit by channelizing other resources like gas turbines and coal power plants,” he said.