Power generation

After the snowfall it is expected there will be improvement in the generation and supply of power in Kashmir Valley. This winter serious power crisis were witnessed leading to the scheduled curtailment in the supply and frequent unscheduled power cuts.

The authorities said because of the prolonged dry spell and subsequent decreasing water level in rivers, the hydro-electric power projects could not generate adequate power. Now since the dry spell has come to an end and Kashmir experienced major snowfall of this season, expectations are that the water level will rise in rivers, thus brightening chances of improvement in power generation to some extent.

Since the generation will not increase that fast right now, the concerned department must keep all other options available like purchasing more power from outside. In fact these options must be always there in winter when the power generation comes down drastically from the projects owned by J&K.

There should not be any unnecessary delay in buying power from outside. People suffer in case of the delay. It is unfortunate that J&K despite having enormous potential to generate power has to buy it from outside states. Even that buying proves insufficient and scheduled and unscheduled power cuts become a reality in every winter.

Not much attention was paid by the previous governments to establish state power projects. That way J&K could have become self sufficient in power and in a position to sell it to others states also. But this did not happen. Now concrete steps should be taken in this direction.

The department says it is providing round the clock power to some of the metered areas. This should be extended to other such areas also. There are also complaints that the department does not send electricity bills on daily basis to pre-paid customers on their mobile phones.

And suddenly one day the total bill is sent and sometimes it is escalated as alleged. The consumers say despite repeated pleas, no corrective measure is taken. The inconvenience to the consumers must be put to an end and doubts removed in their minds regarding excessive billing.