The power crisis in Jammu region is going to worsen in the coming days as the grid stations are not in a position to supply power as per the increased demand and the infrastructure is unable to sustain the increased load due to rising temperature.
Contrary to the claims of the power minister Sunil Sharma that regular power will be supplied, the Power development Department (PDD) is resorting to one hour power cut every two hours. “The power demand in the coming days is likely to go up in Jammu region and due to less capacity of the grid stations, the crisis will only deepen,” a senior PDD official said. “We have no other option other than to resort to power curtailment of one hour duration every two hours otherwise the entire system will collapse,” said a senior PDD officer.
He said that the infrastructure available with the PDD at present is not well equipped to “sustain the load in peak summer season”. Sources in the PDD also informed that all the grid station supplying power to majority of the areas of Jammu region like Galdni, Janipur, Canal Road, Barn and PouniChack are unable to supply power as per the requirement. Informed sources said the shortfall of power is due to less capacity of the grid stations which are unable to meet the actual power requirement. They said that in some areas the power requirement is 375 Amp but the concerned grid station is supplying 290 Amp for 33 KV line. Similarly, in other areas, the power requirement is 350 Amp but the power supplied by the concerned grid station is 275 Amp.
When contacted, XEn PDD, Anil Gupta said that the power demand has increased manifold and the system is not in a position to sustain the load due to soaring temperature. “Apart from this, there are grid constraints due to which the power crisis has worsened,” said Gupta. The Janipur and Canal grids are the worst hit due to which almost entire Jammu city is facing worst power crisis. There is one hour curtailment every two hours in the metered areas, while in non-metered areas there’s 7 to 8 hour power curtailment.
The deepening power crisis is also adversely affecting water supply in Jammu. The PHE Department cannot lift the required quantity of water due to power outages.