As temperature in month of November started to dip, so began the erratic power supplies across Kashmir. The frequent power cuts left consumers high and dry barely months after when they were promised by Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) uninterrupted power if they allow smart metering in the Valley. Though smart metering was resisted at many localities, however, in majority of areas consumers reminded the officers of KPDCL not to forget their promise of an uninterrupted power supply especially in peak winters when temperature drops to sub zero temperature in Kashmir.
However, the promised remained short lived and it was the same old story there was long power cuts in metered areas but the non metered areas were worst hit. Though using the albi of “slow discharge” of water in streams in J&K which reduced generation capacity to minimum levels, a full fledged power curtailment schedule was issued, however, the department failed to honour its own schedule causing lot of anger among the local population.
The officers of KPDCL while defending the powe crisis in Kashmir said the demand is 2,500 megawatts but the supply was mere 1,200 megawatts to 1,500 megawatts. However, at times department was nor even providing 1200 megawatts of power that added to the crisis. The absence of electricity forced leaders of mainstream political parties to question the intentions of the LG adminstration and political parties even held protest demonstrations on the power scarcity.
“If government can’t handle this situation. We are ready to help the administration how to deal with this. I am ready to guide the administration to find a solution being a former power minister,” said former J&K chief minister, Omar Abdullah while addressing a rally in Bandipora district. In almost every rally of former J&K chief minister, the erratic power supply was one of hot topics.
The power crisis in Kashmir turned into a burning issue being highlighted by the political leadership of Kashmir and most of the leaders have been critical towards the administration for taking people of Kashmir for a ride. “We haven’t seen such a worst power crisis in Kashmir. This is a big issue and all political parties of J&K should join together to get this issue resolved. The India and Pakistan signed Indus Water Treaty and people of J&K are suffering. We should be compensated for the losses which we are facing due to Indus Water Treaty” said Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, CPI (Marxist) general secretary and four time former legislator from south Kashmir’s Kulgam area. Tarigami also led a protest demonstration against the abysmal power supply in Kashmir.
Even the Peoples Democratic Party and Congress also held protest in Srinagar on the issue of power supply that was being discussed in the every household of the Valley. “The power crisis in Kashmir has reached a critical point, leaving citizens grappling with prolonged blackouts and enduring severe hardships. The incompetence of the Jammu and Kashmir administration in addressing this crisis is now glaringly evident, as promises of 24/7 power supply through smart meters have proven to be nothing more than a facade, masking a harsh reality of increased tariffs and darkness,” said former minister and PDP leader Asiya Naqash adding that despite tall claims by the LG administration about the installation of smart meters to alleviate power issues and ensure uninterrupted supply, the ground reality tells a different story. “The so-called smart meter initiative, which was marketed as a solution to power woes, has instead become a source of discontent among the general public.”
She said that people are already burdened by the acute power crisis, now find themselves facing higher tariffs, leading to a sense of betrayal by the very government that promised them relief. “The increased financial burden, coupled with persistent power shortages, has compromised basic necessities, plunging many households into darkness.”
Former City Mayor and Apni Party leader Muhammad Junaid Azim Mattu, however, also put blame on former rulers of the erstwhile state for not doing enough on the power front when they ruled the state.
“Let’s be honest — our chronic power woes despite having a hydroelectric power potential of more than 25,000 MWs are NOT because of anyone else but a legacy of decades of misrule, misgovernance and lack of political will and vision by our own twin-family based enterprises,” Mattu said on X.
As the power shortage was snowballing into big issue, the LG adminstration stepped and signed an MoU with the Northern Grid for 500megawatts. Administrative Council (AC) which met here under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, gave its approval for purchase of additional energy of 500 MW of power from Ministry of Power (MOP) to meet Base Load power requirement of the UT essentially required to meet the winter demand,” J&K government spokesman said adding that the availability in winter reduces due to high proportion of hydropower in the UT.
“To bridge this gap between demand and availability of power during winter months AC approved signing of fresh Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by J&K Power Corporation Limited (JKPCL) with NTPC regarding Singrauli-III run by NTPC.
This will subside the energy demand in J&K which is increasing at a CAGR of 10%. Singrauli-II being a thermal power station is a must run station, due to which its power supports J&K’s power requirement during winter when the generation from hydro generators reduces to150-300 megawatts a reduction of 70-90% of summer generation. As such, it will increase its availability by signing new Power Purchase Agreement of JKPCL with NTPC regarding Singrauli-III which would help the UT in tiding over the power shortage faced by it during the lean winter season.”
And after the power supplies were restored the areas started witnessed huge improvement in the power supply. “From past few days, the power supply has increased and there are less curtailment in the metered areas,” said Khursheed Ahmad a city resident.
Officials said that Kashmir has a need of 2200 MW for 24 hour power supply and of 1650 MW with 4.5 to 8 hour curtailment. After fresh Power procurement the situation recorded improvement in both metered and non metered areas especially in the metered areas.
With the improvement in supply and to stop pilferage of power in the Valley, Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) even framed criminal charges against consumers for power theft. In past 10 days officials of KPDLC carried over 10K inspections and disconnected around 11K power connections.
The power department has also realized a revenue of ₹ 85.24 crore, including power receipts, in the same period, with highest remittances of ₹ 16.42 crore recorded on November 28 alone. KPDCL spokesperson said that rampant hooking of lines on bare conductor in metered areas and exceeding energy use beyond agreed load by flat-rated consumers across Kashmir Division. “During inspection overdrive, penalty of Rs.1.03 crore was imposed on consumers found involved in power theft across all 6 O&M Circles in last 10 days of November. As many as 995 connections were regularised and 2120 KW load added,” he said adding that O&M Circle Ganderbal conducted the highest number of 2,945 inspections, followed by Circle Sopore with 2,048, Circle II Srinagar 1,950, Pulwama 1,528, Bijbehara 1,004 and Circle I Srinagar 990.
The spokesman further said of 11,238 consumers disconnected in the last 10 days of November, who had pending energy dues exceeding three months. “This included 7,828 domestic, 2,979 commercial and 346 industrial consumers.”
The spokesperson also warned consumers to avoid hooking, bypassing of meters and exceeding overload, failing which the department will file criminal charges under relevant provisions of the Electricity Act. “We will soon start sharing details of consumers who have pending energy dues in lakhs towards the organisation. We will also expose hookers who have the temerity to openly use power unauthorisedly,” the spokesman said adding that FIRs will be lodged against those persons who physically assault KPDCL staff for performing official duties.
The spokesman also warned commercial consumers including hotels, malls and other business outlets who have been found involved in tampering with meters and have been caught red-handed by the Central Inspection Squad of KPDCL. “We have taken cognizance under law and penalised them. These penalties for power theft have been confirmed by the First Appellate Authority under Sections 126 & 127 of the Electricity Act. KPDCL will ensure the fines are deposited, otherwise we will act tough and initiate legal proceedings against them,” he said, adding the lists of all such defaulters is lying with KPDCL and will be made public soon.
Confirming positive outcomes of accelerated inspection and disconnection drives, KPDCL spokesman said such drives will continue which are aimed at preventing energy losses and enhancing revenue collection from defaulting consumers. “There have been many positive takeaways from such drives. This will help us in adhering to power curtailment schedule and extending comfort to the genuine consumers,” he assured.
The officer said that there are outstanding against people and government departments which is creating lot of problems for the financial aspect of the UT. To bring down the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses in the J&K lot of measures have been taken but still compared to the national average the J&K has still high T&D losses and officers of KPDCL are hopeful in coming few years the losses would go further down which will result direct improvement in the power supply.
“J&K has a huge potential to generate power upto 20,000 to 25,000 megawatts of electricity, however, lot many things need to be done to harness this power from our hydel resources. So far National Hydro Power Corporation (NTPC) has many power houses in J&K but the UT gets minimal benefits from those projects. The government should take this issue seriously,” said a former chief engineer of Power department. “We live in a time when everything from tourism, health, education and business is dependent on power. So this should be made top priority. Even J&K can earn lot of money if the hydel resources are properly harnessed.”
