The power scenario across north Kashmir has worsened ahead of the winters as the authorities have failed to augment the Delina power grid station.
Top officials of the Power Development Department (PDD), Baramulla said the power crisis across north Kashmir was mainly due to the much-awaited augmentation of the Delina power grid station.
Superintending Engineer PDD, Baramulla, Muneer Ahmad said, “Once the capacity of the station is enhanced from 160 MVA to 320 MVA, people across north Kashmir will witness better power supply.”
The PDD officials here said the power distribution system needed immediate upgradation.
A senior PDD official said the receiving stations were often overloaded that forced the department to enforce power cuts.
“We need to augment the existing receiving stations,” he said.
The official said, against a demand of 600 MWs of electricity, there is an availability of only 250 MWs.
Presently, north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Kupwara districts are facing frequent power cuts, leading to protests and severe criticism.
In Baramulla district, people are witnessing more than 12 hours unscheduled power cuts, affecting the studies of students and hitting the businesses.
“I repair transformers and other electronic equipment and the frequent power cuts have hit my work,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a shopkeeper.
The situation in Kupwara district is no different.
“We get electric supply for 10 to 15 minutes that is followed by long hours of power cuts,” said Muhammad Ashraf of Drugmal, Kupwara.
PDD Chief Engineer, Hashmat Qazi attributed the delay in the augmentation of Delina grid station to COVID19 and said that the capacity of the station would be doubled within two months, which would ensure better power supply across north Kashmir.