With winter setting in, citizens must be ready to face a tough power situation during this winter season ahead in Uttarakhand.
Though the officials concerned of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCl) claim to have made some alternative electricity arrangements to meet increasing demand for the same in the winter months, with demand for power from both domestic and commercial sectors remaining high during winter period coupled with technical faults at local level resulting in unscheduled and longs hours of power cuts, these alternative arrangements for power don’t seem to be enough to maintain a balance between the demand and supply of this essential service.
Keeping in view power crisis during winter season as has been experienced in the past, the UPCl has made arrangements for 4.8 million unit (mu) of power per day for six months i.e. from October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 as the officials concerned of the UPCl informed. As the officials concerned of the UPCl inform the electricity from these private companies will be available to Uttarakhand at Rs 3 per unit.
However, the matter of concern is that even in present conditions when power generation from indigenous sources is hovering around 14 mu per day, the hill State is running short of about 5 mu of power daily, how can the State Government be able to help its citizens meet their energy needs during winter season ahead when the generation from domestic sources remains almost half of the present generation levelIJ
And unscheduled and long hours of power cuts i.e. up to four to five hours daily even in urban areas due to the aforesaid poor availability of electricity coupled with local technical faults, have become a routine affairs despite improvement in the gross availability of power.
It is worth mention here that with gross availability of electricity remaining on an average around 28 mu per day i.e. 14 mu from indigenous sources, about 10 mu to 12 mu per day from the Central pool and rest from other sources, presently the demand for power in the hill State has constantly been around 33 mu per day. The interesting fact is that amid chilling winter conditions in this hill State whereas demand for power steeply goes up during winter season, gross availability of the electricity comes down accordingly.
Decreasing water level of the rivers engaged for power generation is the main reason behind low electricity production at the domestic level which comes down to about 6 mu per day to 7 mu per day during winter season. Then it is quite understandable how the alternative arrangements of power can bridge the divide between the demand and supply.
In the meanwhile, as per the agreement that the UPCl has stricken with some private power companies like the Tata power, the power trading corporation and the Sri Cement, the hill State will get a total about 4.8 mu power per day from these companies between October 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. Following the increasing electricity demand we have made alternative arrangements for power for six months i.e. from October 1 to March, 31, said Anil Kumar, Director ( power distribution), UPCl, while talking to The Pioneer. If need be, arrangements for additional power would be made, he added.