Fearing that Opposition might raise the issues of prevailing power crisis in the State in ongoing Budget Session, the Samajwadi Party has blamed the Union Government for the present crisis saying that the NDA Government has not given the State required power. “Much hue and cry has been raised over the power crisis. The fact of the matter is the Union Government has not released the allotted quota of power. If UP starts getting the required quota the power crisis will vanish in no time,” Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhry said in a statement here on Sunday.
The Opposition parties have made it clear that they would grill the Government over power crisis. leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Swamy Prasad Maurya had claimed that villages were getting electricity for just 6-8 hours. Chaudhry said with the onset of summer the demand of electricity goes up in the State. The State Government is trying its best to control the crisis. Non-conventional methods like solar energy are being explored to meet the required target.
“The situation could be brought under control in jiffy if Uttar Pradesh starts getting the allocated central quota of electricity. Even the quality of coal supplied to UP is inferior. The ash content is very high in the coal. This affects power generation,” Chaudhry, who is cabinet rank minister in the Government, said. Elaborating on the Government steps he said that effective distribution of power is our priority. Government has asked officials to change worn out wires and transformers should be changed within 72 hours.
“The Government is gearing up for the increase in the power demand in the summer. UP Power Corporation limited (UPPCl) is arranging additional 2000 MW of electricity after May 15. Himachal Pradesh Government is set to give us 1000 MW power and efforts are on to increase generation in UP’s thermal power plants,” Chaudhry said.
He said the Government has also launched its solar power policy under which recently a solar power plant of 10 MW was dedicated to people in Jalaun. All the government schools will have solar energy units, SP spokesman said. “The Akhilesh Yadav Government is committed to provide uninterrupted power for 18-20 hours in rural areas and 22-24 hours to urban areas by the end of 2016. The working is working in this direction,” he said.