As the ongoing power crisis loom over Kashmir Valley, officials from Power Development Department say that it is the unequal distribution of power supply between Kashmir and Jammu that has worsened the affairs across Kashmir Valley. “People of Kashmir pay more power tariff and yet more power is distributed to Jammu region. Eeven though the available power is to be equitably distributed in both Jammu and Kashmir regions of the state, Valley alone has been facing the power crisis this time and it is only because of unequal power distribution,” a PDD official told CNS on condition of anonymity.Another PDD official informed that, “the thumb rule had been that the power distribution was 55:45 for Kashmir (including Ladakh) and Jammu provinces respectively because Kashmiri consumers have been comparatively paying more. But for now major part of energy is supplied to Jammu.”Chief Engineer Power Development Department Shehnaz Goni didn’t comment over the issue as she was busy in a meeting, however, some officials from her department while blaming people for the mess said that in a bid to meet the demand, the state government has been spending crores of rupees for annual power procurement.
“The Government has not been banking on the arbitrary power supply from the Northern Grid but procuring power supply in real terms. The state government has opt for over-drawal of electricity from the Northern Grid,” they said.The officials added that despite maintaining a balance between supply and demand, the power scenario during the winters get worsened across Kashmir as consumers do not follow the guidelines of the Power Department. “There is no need to raise hue and cry over unscheduled power cuts. People are blaming PDD for their fault. Let people reveal their actual requirements, PDD will supply uninterrupted power to them.” They blamed people for the curtailments and unscheduled power cuts. “Over two lakh units of energy are being consumed per day and yet the people don’t tell us about their actual requirements. Let people come forward, make us aware about their actual requirements and see how things will look up. It is easy to blame the Department for everything but at least people should realize that they use more electricity than required,” they said but admitted that unequal distribution of energy between two regions is also a reason for the power crisis in Valley. (CNS)