Lashing out at the opposition, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that the Congress leaders have forgotten issues that transpired when they were in power in the state and the party was now resorting to leveling allegations.
Khattar's remarks come in response to Congress senior leader Randeep Surjewala’s comments over the electricity crisis in Haryana, where he said that this was the worst such crisis the State underwent.
“For Congress, leveling allegations is very easy. They have forgotten all the problems during their regime in Haryana. There are heatwave issues and coal shortages across the country, and coal demand has been rising in power plants. This is not the only problem in Haryana but across the country. These problems will be persistent for eight to 10 days in some states. Till May 15, all problems will be sorted out. There is no need to panic and people should co-operate,” said Khattar.
Addressing the media persons in Chandigarh, Surjewala had alleged that Haryana was facing a power crisis because the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP Government failed to enforce the power purchase agreement with a private player and is instead supplying nearly 114 lakh units per day to it in a reverse flow.
He said that the data from the Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) reflects that electricity is being sent from Mahendragarh (Haryana) to Mundra (Gujarat) instead of the power flowing from Mundra to Mahendragarh. Daily reports of NRLDC from April 9 to April 29 reflect that Haryana's electricity is going to Mundra in a reverse flow, he said, while claiming no power was being exported between January 1, 2022, and April 8, 2022. As much as 2356.30 lakh units of electricity were exported from Haryana to Mundra, Gujarat between April 9 and 29, 2022, he said. Moreover, Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala termed the allegations of Congress spokesperson Surjewala regarding sending State's electricity to Gujarat as a bundle of lies and termed it as misleading to the people of the State.
Chautala also said that during the Congress rule, the ‘Mundra-Mahendergarh High Voltage Direct Current Line’ became a part of the 'Inter State Transmission System Network' and all control was on the basis of 'Regional Grid Stability' of 'National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC)'. The National Load Despatch Centre is an independent body, over which Haryana has neither administrative nor operational control.
While stating that Surjewala’s allegations regarding giving free electricity to Adani are baseless and beyond facts, he said that Haryana has nothing to do with the flow of the said 'Mundra-Mahendergarh High Voltage Direct Current Line'. The part of State’s power in Haryana will not be affected. He further said that from April 9, 2022 to April 12, 2022, power increased from 177 MW to 487 MW which was sent from the North Zone to West Zone is an example of the 'Mundra-Mahendergarh High Voltage Direct Current Line'.
The Power Minister also said that Haryana is making complete utilization of the power generated from the Center and generated at its level. The share of electricity in Haryana is not being sent anywhere. Terming Randeep Surjewala's allegations of power crisis in the state as baseless, he said that the State Government is committed to provide electricity to its consumers as per their requirements.
On the power crisis issue, the former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanded from the State Government to release a white paper on the problem of electricity so that people know the truth. The government should solve the power crisis, otherwise, the Congress will come out on the streets and oppose it,” he said.