Metered areas to face curtailment up to 4.5 hours; 7 hours in unmetered areas

Srinagar: In coming days, Kashmir province will face additional power cuts as the demand for electricity has increased amid harsh spell of cold and Covid pandemic.
Chief Engineer, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL), Aijaz Ahmed Dar told Kashmir Reader that daily curtailments will range between 3 hours and 4.5 hours in metered areas while unmetered areas will have 7 hours power cut daily from present 4 hours.
“This is because of the injudicious use of electricity by the consumers. We are forced to do that,” he said.
These cuts, Dar said, will be made at various intervals of time during the day and evening.
Nearly a month ago, the power development department (PDD) had issued a curtailment schedule for Valley residents. According to it, metered areas would face a power cut of 3 hours (1 hour in each slot) and non-metered areas of 4 hours (in 3 slots) in a day. This was a hreat improvement against last year’s power cuts of 7 and 10 hours, respectively, every day in metered and non-metered areas.
Dar said it had become impossible to carry on with the earlier curtailment schedule as demand had reached over 2,100 megawatts as against the capacity to supply up to 1,450 MWs.
“In this situation, the solution is power cuts. We avoid overloading our feeders,” he said.
Power curtailment in Kashmir is a perennial problem and the situation worsens during winters as demand for power goes up.
Moreover, this year there is an increased demand for power as people infected with Covid are on oxygen support at their homes.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz