657 mail, passenger trains cancelled to run more coal rakes
India is facing a massive power crisis due to an unprecedented coal shortage. Against a power demand of 16,035 MW on Friday morning at 10.45 am, the total power available for supply was only 2,304 MW, and against the daily demand of 22 lakh tonnes of coal, only 16 lakh tonnes are being supplied.
Amid the ongoing coal shortage and the power crisis in several States, the Indian Railways on Friday took a major step by suspending services of 657 mail and passenger trains in order to prioritise the movement of coal rakes across the country. The Coal Ministry had requested railways to run around 422 coal rakes on a daily basis to meet the present power demand.
Following this, the railways has planned to add one lakh additional wagons to its fleet to meet the growing demand. About 70 per cent of India’s electricity demand is fulfilled through coal.
The demand for power is expected to rise further in the coming days as the weather department has predicted that heatwave sweeping through the country will intensify.
About 16 States have been forced to frequent load-shedding daily for power cuts ranging 10-12 hours as power stations with 72,074 MW capacity are not operating due to the non-availability of coal.
Union Power Minister RK Singh said that power shortage in some States is taking place as payments have not been made to generation firms. As per Singh, States were not lifting domestic coal on a war footing, stepping up fuel imports, and allowing pass-through of high fuel costs.
Reports suggest 106 of the total 173 power plants are having less than 25 per cent of their usual reserve and States are being forced to buy power as high as Rs 12 per MW.
States like Jharkhand which has coal mines have been facing over 17.5 per cent shortage of power, Rajasthan is facing a power shortage of 9.6 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 9 per cent, Haryana 7.7 per cent, and Uttarakhand 7.6 per cent.
Sources in railways said more trains were operational locally particularly falling within the zones of coal mines. They said more mail and passenger trains would be canceled till May 24 to deal with an unprecedented shortage of coal. “The measure is temporary and passenger services will be restored as soon as the situation normalises,” said a Railway Ministry spokesman.
Indian Railways raised the average daily loading of coal rakes to over 400, which is the highest in the past five years. Earlier, in the past couple of weeks, the railways was forced to cancel around 16 mail/express and passenger trains daily to allocate more way for rakes carrying coal. The Coal Ministry then requested railways to run around 422 coal rakes on a daily basis to meet the present power demand.
The ongoing heatwave intensified in the national Capital on Friday, with the mercury settling near 46 degrees Celsius in many parts. It is the highest maximum temperature on a day in April in 12 years. The all-time high temperature for the month is 45.6 degrees Celsius, which was recorded on April 29, 1941.
Delhi Government has warned of a possible setback in providing uninterrupted electricity supply for critical services in the national Capital, including metro trains and hospitals.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his Government is somehow handling the power supply situation in Delhi and called for quick, concrete steps to tackle the electricity crisis facing the country.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar called on Singh on Friday and discussed measures required for uninterrupted supply of electricity in the State. Haryana has assured that it will take all necessary steps to revive generation from the power plants with which it has PPA (power purchase agreement). This will start in three days.
Khattar requested that the Union Ministry should allocate about 500 MW power for the period up to May 15, 2022. Singh assured that he will consider the request and take a quick action. Haryana also decided to set up a new unit of 750 IVW at its Yamuna Nagar plant for which the Power Ministry will extend all possible assistance.
Haryana will enter into a PPA with NEEPCO (North Eastern Electric Power Corporation) for about 300 MW of power from Kameng Hydro Electric Power Plant in Arunachal Pradesh, it said. Khattar also asked for assistance in the early exploration of its captive coal block in Jharkhand, and the Union Minister assured him that he will take up the matter with the Coal Ministry.
Neighboring Rajasthan’s Dholpur touched 46.5 degrees Celsius and Sriganganagar recorded a maximum temperature of 46.4 degrees Celsius.
