Jammu, May 10: Jammu and Kashmir is reeling under acute electricity crisis due to shutdown of the Salal Hydro Electric Power Station Reasi and routing of 200 Mega Watts of electricity to other states under ‘Energy Banking Agreement’.
 The prolonged curtailments both scheduled and unscheduled have hit the State particularly Jammu region, where people are facing the brunt of the power crisis.
 Sources said that Salal Hydro Electric Power Station Reasi has been shut down by the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) on May 7 till May 11 for removing silt from the reservoir and its routine maintenance.
 They maintained that the shutdown of the Salal Project has aggravated the power deficient situation, particularly in Jammu region having peak demand of 961 Mega Watts during summer.
  However, they said that routing of 200 Mega Watts electricity for "Banking Purposes" to other states during summer season was the main cause of energy crisis .
 The State government has inked a “Banking Agreement” with Punjab Trading Corporation (Punjab), West Bengal, and Utter Pradesh, and National Vidyut Vikas Nigam (NVVN).
 Under this agreement, Jammu and Kashmir has to supply 200 Mega Watts of electricity to these states free of cost in summer as power generation in the State is higher during this time of year due to full discharge in rivers. These states return this power daily to JK free of cost during winter, when power generation decreases in the State and demand increases.
 Under this agreement, JK is bound to give away 200 Mega Watts electricity in any situation. “Besides the power reform measures of PDD to check power pilferage have not yielded requisite results. The problem is compounded by Transmission and Distribution Losses (T&D) showing a steep increase,” they said.
 Pertinently as per the 10th power survey conducted by the Ministry of Power, Government of India, peak power requirement (in MWs) by the end of 10th 5 year plan has been projected as 1923 MW- normal demand and 2115 MW- peak power demand. Kashmir region accounts for 1154 MW and Jammu region for 961 MW.
 Chief Engineer, PDD EM&RE Wing Jammu Shehanaz Goni maintained that the power scenario was expected to improve in few days after Salal Hydro Electric Power Station resumes its generation with normal electricity supply.
 She further added that unscheduled power cuts are implemented on rotation basis in the region. She urged the people to use electricity judiciously to tackle the situation.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 IST