Srinagar: Kashmir valley is in the grip of worst-ever power crisis this year.
People stage demonstration in the nook and corner of the valley every day to highlight the crisis being faced by them.
Even political parties other than ruling party arranged protest demonstrations to drew the attention of the government towards the worst power crisis in the valley but the government as well as power development department (PDD) maintain silence as if nothing wrong is going on.
The PDD maintains that the crisis is population-made as they are consuming more electricity than they reuire. It insists that consumers should avoid resorting to malpractices to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the valley.
The PDD said there is no dreath of power in the valley. It is because consumers resort to unfair means which force it to resort to curtailment.
Why is electricity situation worsening?
It’s actually a problem of supply and demand. We have same supply of 1200 MW that we had last year but the demand has increased. Joint families go nuclear so power consumption also increase. Unless we do not augment new power grids nothing is going to happen and next winter could be harsher, a top official in PDD wishing anonymity told Kashmir Wire.
In a recent appeal through newspapers, the PDD requested consumers to avoid misuse of power to ensure uninterrupted supply. It also threatened that it will exercise powers vested to it to carry night raids and impose fine to the consumers found guilty of using unfair means, but people question who is stopping them (PDD) to go all out to arrest misuse of power by consumers.
The PDD has an army of employees, who , if they wish, can stop misuse of power by consumers. However, they are not able to carry out raids as they have their own kit and kin who have been given a free hand to misuse power, locals claimed, adding “friends and acquaintances of PDD workers are also liable to special treatment”.
“Some of them are getting a consolidated (or flat rate) bill of Rs.1000 to consume unlimited power while a poor consumer is forced to pay a bill of more than Rs.2000 for less consumption of power”, consumers alleged.
They said there is another category who pay Rs.500 to the PDD and has to pay less than Rs.400 to the PDD for consumption of power unlimited.
Another category belong to a class which do not pay to the PDD but consume power unlimited as they are registered as “irregular” connections which are existing in large numbers in localities of the city and elsewhere in the valley.
One of the category do not get more than Rs.250 electricity bill for a month as the PDD staff has instructions to keep their meter “blocked”, the consumers said.
A house owner in posh Rajbagh locality said he never resorts to hooking or other unfair means but gets a hefty electricity bill, but in his neighbourhood, a consumer resort to hooking and use electricity without any fear. He Pays Rs.200 to the PDD man and is charged only Rs.450 for the unlimited electricity by the department.
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