Farmers wink at power-saving measures

The Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (NPDCL) of Andhra Pradesh is lagging behind its counterparts in the implementation of demand side management (DSM) measures. Only 28,072 farmers in the company limits have adopted energy-saving methods as per the modified policy of power supply of the state government.

In the company's jurisdiction spread over five northern Telangana districts of Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam, Nizamabad and Adilabad, there are 6,94,050 non-paying category pumpsets and 18,232 paying category connections.

Nizamabad district is the first to have adopted the energy-saving methods with 16,384 non-paying category pumpsets having fixed capacitors as per the government's directive. The district has a total of 1,46,384 pumpsets.

Despite having the maximum number of 2,12,583 non-paying category connections, Warangal farmers have failed to respect the DSM measures. In the paying category, only 19 farmers have installed capacitors, frictionless footvalves, ISI mark pumpsets and HDPE/RPVC pipes.

In Karimnagar, 6,900 non-paying capacity agriculture consumers have fixed capacitors. This is against a total of 2,12,140 connections in the district. All the 10,409 paying category consumers have so far not adopted DSM measures in the district.

In Khammam, 4,665 non-paying category consumers have fixed capacitors as against 61,065 connections. In the paying category, 1,855 of the 3,889 connections have adopted power-saving measures. In the non-paying category, only 2,158 farmers have adopted DSM measures by fixing footvalves, ISI pumpsets and HDPE pipes.

In Adilabad, 123 consumers of non-paying category have adopted the DSM measures as against 61,878 connections.

According to K Ranganatham, chairman and managing director of the company, NPDCL has undertaken several steps for the implementation of DSM measures in the region.

He told Business Standard that two farmer seminars were organised during the last summer. A mandal-level crop diversification campaign was also taken up by the company in November 2005 and two more seminars were held in the same month, he said.

Ranganatham further said a total of 240 revenue mandals were covered by the company for sensitising the farmers about the modified policy of power supply to the agricultural sector.

The company has chalked out a two-stage programme to implement the DSM measures.

While in the first stage, the consumer would be sensitised to the need to install footvalve and capacitor by March 2006, in the second, the farmers would be persuaded to install ISI-mark pumpsets and HDPE pipes. The deadline for this is March 2008, he said.