YV Sharma asks for “white paper” on indiscriminate power cuts

JAMMU, October 8: There is no single day when we don’t hear of power sector reforms in J&K & capacity additions that have taken place over last few decades especially over last few years.

YV Sharma, BJP spokesperson bemoaned in a press release today that as a representative of the industries body at the J&K Regulatory Commission several years back he was given to understand that the power system in J&K shall improve after implementation of PMDP, RAPDRP, IPDS & such other schemes, but nothing seems to have changed.

He regretted that more these reforms are tom-tommed, the more are the electricity cuts that the consumers of electricity face in J&K in general & Jammu province in particular. These cuts are usually attributed to non-availability of funds to buy electricity, shutdowns for carrying out repair works in power network, addition of new systems & very often non-availability of electricity from the grid. The fact however remains that the people of J&K experience the same issues related to power in 2023 as they were probably facing in 1990 or even earlier. He wanted to know that even after spending thousands of crores of rupees into implementation of new schemes & capacity addition the consumers have to face power cuts then what is the great idea of spending this kind of public money.

He ridiculed PDD & said that recently they informed the consumers through a press briefing that the water in river Chenab had fallen down & thus sufficient electricity was not being generated by the power houses established on the river & as such there was shortage of power. Special mention was made of Baghliar project, probably because it is under the UT administration. YV Sharma wanted to know as to what was new about the water level falling down in River Chenab with the onset of winter. He asked the PDD as to whether they didn’t know that this was a well-known fact. He wanted PDD to explain as to what alternative steps were taken by them to ensure that electricity was available to the consumers in J&K on regular basis even after water level fell in J&K rivers.

He asked PDD to come out with a white paper on the reasons about why they can’t provide 24×7 electricity to the electricity consumers even after thousands of crores have been spent in J&K for reforms in power sector. He pointed out that the Govt of India has been pretty liberal in providing funds to J&K for reforms in power sector, but the end result has not been commensurate with the funds provided.

He asked PDD to provide details in the white paper of the funds spent by them in last 20 years & what kind of capacities have been added in J&K with Jammu in particular in transmission & distribution sector for the consumers to know the facts.

He also wanted to know from PDD as to when can the people of J&K expect a relief from the debilitating power cuts. He asked PDD not to make false promises, but come out with details as to when 24×7 quality power shall be provided to the consumers of J&K.

He wanted to know from PDD that on one hand the Govt of J&K is encouraging industrialists to invest in J&K while as on the other hand they are not able to provide power then how does the establishment expect the investors to come & invest in J&K.

He also questioned PDD’s wisdom to allot more power to Kashmir than Jammu when it is an open knowledge that Jammu consumes less electricity but generates more revenue while as Kashmir consumes more power than Jammu & collects less revenue. YV Sharma raised questions about the ethics of such blatant discrimination.

Finally, YV Sharma advised PDD to come up with a white paper within next 10 days so that the power consumers of J&K are aware of what electricity sector holds for them in days to come.

(NOTE: PRESS RELEASE PUBLISHED AS RECEIVED)