RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, May 21: When a power project was planned in Tapkara in Khunti a slogan in Mundari, ‘Dhibri Batti Aabua Bjili Batti Kabua’ (Yes to natural oil lamp and no to electrical light), had become famous among those not in favour of the project.
It appears that the slogan is turning into a truth in Jharkhand as despite having hundreds of coal mines and seven power generation units, the state is still facing a shortfall of around 200MW power during the past few days.
An official of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) supported the observation saying the demand for electricity in the state ranges between 2200MW to 24000MW per day while it is getting 2100MW to 2200M from all sources. The shortfall has resulted in load shedding from cities to villages, the official added.
Asked how long it will continue, he said till the supply of power from all sources becomes normal.
“Production has been severely affected due to breakdowns at the three units of DVC’s (Damodar Valley Corporation) power plants at Mejia and Bokaro Thermal Power Plant for different reasons. Although production started from both the power plants on Thursday, still all the units are not operational and due to this the supply is not being able to meet the peak hour demand. Apart from this, supply from hydel power is also very low due to poor generation,” the insider said.
“Seven districts of the state Dhanbad, Bokaro, Giridih, Koderma, Ramgarh, Chatra and Hazaribagh come under the DVC command area. Electricity is supplied to these districts only through DVC. Load shedding has been happening in these districts for 12 to 14 hours since last Tuesday,” the insider said.
“In many areas of Dhanbad, there was almost a blackout-like situation till last night, while in some areas electricity was found on rotation. In the districts of Ranchi, Palamu, Garhwa, Lohardaga, Jamshedpur, and Chaibasa people are also troubled by continuous power cuts,” the insider further said.
JBVNL did not accept the shortfall saying it was due to local faults.
“Local faults including the burning of transformers, fall of branches on transmission lines and uprooting of electric poles are also affecting the power distribution. The state is getting sufficient power to supply,” superintendent engineer (electrical) of JBVNL PK Srivastava said.
Srivastava said there is enough electricity for supply in the capital Ranchi.
“The daily demand is around 260 to 270 MW whereas in peak hours it reaches 300 MW. At present the capital is getting this electricity,” he said.
However, residents complained that there is a cut of three to four hours every day.
“Storm came today but I have been facing a power problem for the last 15 days. It is not normal. Sometimes the power goes off at night and sometimes in the peak hour between 6 pm to 10 pm. Running pumps, charging phones and inverters has become a problem,” a resident of Harmu named Prabhakar said.
A senior officer of JVVNL, however, said proper planning in advance would have controlled the situation.
If it would have made power purchase agreements with utilities such as Tata Power, DVC or any other company such a situation would have been avoided. Though the government has provided funds but power rate has become high due to increasing demand across the country.
Apart from this, if the first phase of the power project at Patratu would have been completed such a situation had not come. Jharkhand Government, Patratu Thermal Power Station and National Thermal Power Corporation have signed MoU to produce 4000MW by 2024 with 800MW in the first phase, the insider said.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone for an NTPC project in North Karanpura in the Chatra district. This project is ready for power generation but is still waiting for a forest department’s clearance from the state.
Regarding the fall of branches, a resident said that if the JBVNL had completed its underground cabling work on a war footing, this situation would have never come.