With the energy demand registering a fresh spurt in Uttarakhand, industries have started facing regular power cuts which are hampering their production.
With the demand for power sky-rocketing to 28 million-29 million units per day during winters, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) is finding it tough to meet the growing demand of power particularly from industries in the state. As of now, the UPCL has begun emergency rostering with industrial cuts of 2-3 hours on a daily basis, UPCL sources said. In rural areas, the power cut is more severe from 4 to 6 hours. Dehradun city has been left out of the power rostering, the sources said.
The industrial production is getting hit due to the power cuts, said industrial sources.
After the good monsoon last year which saw power scenario improving in the state, Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam limited (UJVNL), the state run power generating company, is currently generating only 9 m to 10 m units of power as the water discharge in most of the rivers fell drastically during the past month. “Due to snowfall and cold conditions, the water levels in most of the rivers in Uttarakhand are falling drastically reducing the power generation capacity of the UJVNL,” a government official said.
Uttarakhand is facing 10 m units of power shortage and is resorting to banking arrangement and buying power from some private companies at higher rates. In addition to this, UPCL is also overdrawing nearly 3 m units of power from the national grid.
The discharge in the rivers is likely to fall more in the coming two months which would overall affect the power scenario in the state.
The official mainly blamed the UJVNL for the current power shortage in the state. “During the past one decade, the UJVNL has been able to construct only one big hydel project i.e 304 Mw Maneri Bhali-II. On the other hand, the power demand in the state is growing by 15 per cent to 20 per cent every year. We need to focus on the power sector,” the official added.
