MSEB's load shedding plan irks Vidarbha industry

According to a new circular issued by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), load shedding in big cities of the state excluding Bhandup, Mulund, Thane and Navi Mumbai, has been extended from three hours daily to four hours from April 21.

Rural areas will have to go without power supply for around nine hours daily in a single stretch or two stretches of four and a half hours each, depending on the load on the local network.

"Why should sub-urban Mumbai get 24 hours of electricity when we are being subjected to load-shedding?" asked a harried Mohan Agrawal, president of Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA).

"This is a direct insult to Vidarbha, the power bowl of Maharashtra. We have to bear the brunt of the environmental damage to supply electricity to rest of the state. Why is sub-urban Mumbai being spared?" asked Prataprai Motwani, secretary of The Wholesale Grain and Seeds Merchants Association.

A number of industries are contemplating moving to neighbouring Chhattisgarh. Expansion plans in the secondary steel sector are on hold and some have even announced greenfield projects in Chhattisgarh. "We cannot survive if this carries on," said Agrawal.

The industry's grievance, however, is not without reason. Vidarbha has an installed capacity of 4,340 mw but continues to suffer power outages as energy produced in the region is used to light up cities close to Mumbai.

An official press communique issued by MSEB stated that the increased load-shedding is due to the rising gap between the demand and supply of electricity. The present demand is about 12,700 mw against an availability of about 9,000 mw.

According to MSEB, this gap was widening and so it had to resort to emergency load-shedding by tripping EHV lines due to which some areas suffered power cuts for 12-14 hours at a stretch. However, with the revised load-shedding schedule now in place, MSEB will not have to resort to emergency load-shedding.

Not content with MSEB's reasoning, the local newspapers claim that the state governnment was pressurised into doing this.

"The strong Mumbai lobby pressurised the Maharashtra government to not enforce load shedding in sub-urban Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. The rest of the state is paying for Maharashtra's indulgence towards these areas," the local media said.

The MSEB communique also stated that tough these four areas have been excluded as of now, these may have to suffer load-shedding later if required. There are reports that the duration of load-shedding in Nagpur may be extended further in May.

West Nagpur MLA Devendra Fadnavis has warned of an agitation if the MSEB goes ahead with its revised load-shedding programme.

The Democratic Front government had announced a three hour load-shedding in the Legislative Assembly and its upward revision is a cruel joke played on the people of the city, Fadnavis maintained.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will lock up MSEB offices and not allow the board to function if this continues.

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Power woes

• According to a new circular issued by the MSEB, load shedding in major areas of the state excluding Bhandup, Mulund, Thane and Navi Mumbai, has been extended from three hours daily to four hours from April 21
• Rural areas will have to go without power supply for around nine hours daily in a single stretch or two stretches of four and a half hours each