Srinagar: Early this month, the government claimed it will supply power for nearly 22 hours every day in metered areas and for 20 hours in unmetered areas in Kashmir. Had this claim turned out to be for real, the government would have earned huge applause from people in Kashmir where the cold and harsh winters are made worse by long and unscheduled power cuts.
Just days after making its sweet promise, the government’s Power Development Department (PDD) reneged on it and announced a “fresh” power curtailment schedule: power outages for up to 4.5 hours in metered areas and for 7 hours in non-metered areas, every day.
The PDD has cited lack of infrastructural capacity to supply power as required. Right now, the load capacity of power grids is 1450 MWs against the season’s demand of 2100 MWs, according to Chief Engineer, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL), Aijaz Ahmed Dar.
This mismatch has exposed the gaps which the government was supposed to fill by putting in place power infrastructure in time. That such infrastructure is lacking in many dimensions is evident from the fact that the completion of the Alesteng grid station has made no difference.
Kashmir Valley’s power crisis in winter exists because the demand for power increases beyond the supplying capacity of the PDD. Though the department can buy additional power, and also has transmission lines for bringing it from outside J&K, it has its bottlenecks at 220/132 KV grid Level. Such is the extent that the much-hyped Alasteng grid station, which has been made functional after remaining plagued with construction delays for seven years, has not solved the problem.
Before Alasteng, the supplying capacity was a mere 1250 MW, Aijaz Dar told Kashmir Reader. Its functioning has added another 220 MWs, he said. It is still not enough during the winter.
Another senior engineer, on the condition of anonymity, told Kashmir Reader that the unrestricted demand is as much as 2800 MWs during winters, a deficit of over 1400 MWs.
“So, even if we rely on just 1.5-hour power cuts in metered areas and 2-hour cuts in un-metered areas, during winters, in Kashmir we still need additional 600 MWs. It can be purchased from outside, but we can’t supply it to this extent because we don’t have distribution infrastructure of that level,” the senior engineer said.
“When the entire grid does start functioning, the department can fetch supply as per the current demand. This was supposed to happen some years ago, but we are yet to do so,” said an engineer well acquainted with PDD’s functioning.
To get the Valley out of its winter power woes, the PDD immediately needs to lay another 132 KV transmission line, from the 220/132 KV Budgam Grid to the 132/33 Rawalpora Grid. Similarly, the Delina grid stations have to be augmented to cater to north Kashmir. The PDD also has to complete a power grid station, the foundation of which was laid ten years ago in Bandipora. The transmission line supposed to feed that grid is incomplete and prevents the supply of reliable power to households in that region.
“This is the way to get out of the power crisis, nothing else. Let the PDD charge people for their injudicious use of power, but it cannot be a reason for not giving uninterrupted power,” the engineer said.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz