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Groping
In The Dark
With no
easy answers to tackle power shortage, the Madhya Pradesh Government cuts
a sorry figure. Could the crisis have been avoided, asks INDIA TODAY Special
Correpondent Neeraj Mishra.
*The slumberous
opposition BJP holds a massive rally in Bhopal to protest again against
power shortage. More than 2 lakh consumers join in on their own. The support
for the rally is so overwhelming that people pour in from neighbouring
districts as well.
*A show cause notice is issued to the state government by Justice Sachindra
Dwivedi of the State Electricity Tariff Control Authority asking why Chhindwara
and Shajapur, constituencies of former Union minister Kamalnath and Energy
Minister Hukam Singh Karada, were spared power cuts while other parts
of the state are reeling under four-18 hour load shedding. The district
headquarters face a four-hour load shedding while smaller villages have
no power for almost 18 hours a day.
*MPSEB staff are gheraoed and beaten up in at least five different places
in the state for the undeclared power cuts. The Government hastily orders
that the power cuts are uniformly implemented, even in VIP areas like
the Governor House.
As
Madhya Pradesh finds itself sliding deeper and deeper into the dark alley,
even the most ardent supporters of Chief Minister Digvijay Singh are hard
put to explain why and how things have come to such a pass in a state
that boasted of surplus power only eight years ago. Worse, there seems
to be no escape from it even in the next four years.
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Power-less
Madhya Pradesh
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# Short
by at least 1800 MW on a daily basis
# Owes Rs 1,100 crore to NTPC
# No new power project commissioned in eight years
# Per unit cost increased from Rs 2.05 to Rs 3.45 paise
# 3-18 hour power cuts across the state.
# No relief in sight till 2004 |
"We
are fast approaching a situation where people will have to believe that
electricity is not a part of their life,'' says BJP state President Vikram
Verma. The Government pleads helplessness. "We don't have the resources
or the funds to pay our debts to the NTPC and so we will have to make
do with a lesser quota,'' accepts Digvijay. The state owes Rs 1,100 crore
to NTPC and its own power generation has suffered over the past two years.
The peak demand hovers around 4000 MW while the supply is at le
The reasons are not far to seek. The most obvious is that while the demand
has grown steadily, only 400 MW has been added to the overall power scenario
in the past eight years. This is also negated as the 1200 MW purported
to be supplied through hydel stations has dropped to 600 MW due to poor
rains over the past three years. While 24 MOUs had been signed in a flurry
in 1996 for a total power production in excess of 4500 MW, none of them
fructified. Five projects, including the 400 MW Maheshwar hydel project
and four other Naptha and thermal projects, for various reasons, did not
take off. The Rs 2,400 crore Maheshwar project, promoted by S. Kumars',
has run into rough weather as its foreign equity holders have walked out
one after another. If the promoters are unable to get someone to invest
within the next 60 days the project will be doomed forever. Since the
state government itself does not have any money to bankroll any big project
it has been constrained to approach the NHPC to partner its Omkareshwar
project. The NHPC has agreed to do it but most of the 800 MW that will
be produced there may go towards lessening of the debt burden of the state
towards central agencies. Some amount of loss was also suffered with the
separation of Chhatisgarh. Power plants generating nearly 2000 MW were
transferred during the process, with the result that Chhatisgarh enjoys
a surplus of 300 MW while Madhya Pradesh begs and borrows.
The scarcity of power in the state is so acute that even if the five projects
under construction work according to schedule, the state will be able
to get over the current crisis only in 2004. To top that, the NTPC continues
to threaten the state with a cut-off if its debt burden is not reduced.
Presently the state needs Rs 5 crore a day to continue supplying power
with load shedding. This has propelled it into a vicious circle of resorting
to load shedding, angering the public and pleading its inability to buy
more power. "We are trying our best, the revenue per month has increased
by Rs 50 cr he MPSEB who has adopted tough measures by transferring erring
officials, metering sub-stations and changing archaic magnetic meters
to digital ones.
Meanwhile, Justice Dwivedi has given the go ahead for an increase in power
tariff from October 1. The tariff will now go up by a minimum of 14.5
per cent on the basic charge which is almost doubled with the taxes and
cess. An already harried consumer will now have to cough up at least 150
per cent more for the same scarce powe. The other 150 per cent has been
recovered through installation of electronic metres. "Where is the
Government in this state? If you go out of your house there are no roads,
if you remain inside there is no electricity,'' asks Opposition leader
Sunderlal Patwa. The precarious load shedding in which most towns had
no power between 7 p.m. 8 p.m. had to be abandoned after a week on the
orders of the High Court which perceived a worsening law and order situation.
At this hour even the street lights were shut off. Even senior Congress
leaders were worried. ``I have requested the chief minister to spare the
street lights at least so that women and children are safely home,'' says
Sriniwas Tiwari, Speaker of the state Assembly.
For Digvijay, there is no easy way out. The precarious financial position
of the state Government and the refusal of NTPC to give power on credit
has left him without much option. Even the BJP leaders who are baying
for his blood have no solutions. There's only one thing everyone is agreed
on: that electricity could well prove to be Digvijay's onions.
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