Powerless Valleyites: As per the figures the consumers of Kashmir are the highest power tariff payers in domestic category as compared to other pockets of the State Come winter and the Valley is again in darkness. Where the electric power is one of the basic necessities of life in other societies, in Kashmir it is a luxury that most of the people are deprived of. The harsh winters in Kashmir become only harsher by the absence of electric power, businesses suffer and life of ordinary people becomes difficult. In absence of electric power, household budgets get drained by splurging on alternative energy equipment imported into Kashmir. Yet unmindful of and undermining all these stark realities the government adds insult to the injury of people by its usual refrain: People don’t use power “judiciously”. The last straw that breaks the back of energy camel comes in the shape of Darbar move. Every time the state offices shift to Jammu, the Kashmir Valley gets further isolated— commodities of basic necessity become largely inaccessible and the government hides its inefficiencies behind the rhetoric: People need to use power “judiciously”. The fact remains that successive governments in Kashmir have failed to fill up the wide gaps in the energy sector of the state where obviously common consumers have no role to play. Let alone developing a strong and reliable state-sector energy grid sufficient enough to cater to the domestic needs, the government has not even bothered to renegotiate the power distribution pacts highly tilted against it, with the government of India-owned NHPC. The tall T&D losses, for which the government unreasonably blames the consumers, are there primarily because very little has been spent on upgradation of the transmission and distribution system in the state. Most of the energy is wasted thanks to the decrepit transmissions system, worn out electric lines, and old and damaged transformers installed in the localities. No wonder then the state of power sector in J&K instead of showing any improvement has gone from bad to worse over the years. If the power sector in Kashmir has remained undeveloped, it is the government itself which has to take the blame and not the people. As per the figures the consumers of Kashmir are the highest power tariff payers in domestic category as compared to other pockets of the State. Not only this, the average monthly tariff paid by each consumer is also highest in the Valley. So the blame lies at the door of the government. Will it act?
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 08:05:54 +0000
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