No Uttaranchal power for Delhi

The Uttaranchal government has rejected a Delhi government request to supply its surplus power following decline in power generation this season in the hill state.

The Delhi Vidyut Board had made several requests to the Uttaranchal government to supply additional power following the onset of summer season, sources said.

But due to the scanty snowfall in the high altitudes last winter, the discharge in the most rivers in Uttaranchal had declined affecting the power generation, top officials of Uttaranchal Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL) told Business Standard.

Uttaranchal, which gets 5.7 million units of power from the central sector a day, generates 5-12 million units of power a day on its own, mostly though hydel power projects.

The power generation normally goes up to 12 million units a day during the summer and declines to 5 million units in the winter.

Because of less discharge in major rivers like Ganga and Yamuna this season following less snowfall, the UPCL official said the corporation would not be in a position to supply any surplus power to Delhi.

"Although, we got several requests from the DVB, we have expressed our inability," said the UPCL official.

The current power generation is hovering around 6 million units, of which Himachal Pradesh gets its share of 0.6 million unit.Uttaranchal is currently facing a deficit of one million unit of power a day.

Significantly, in winter the state consumes all the power (12 million units) it generates.

"Between December 15 and March 15, we are forced to go for load shedding during the peak hours," the official said.

"We have now reached a situation of 1925, when the discharge in our rivers was equally low," he said.

Nevertheless, UPCL officials are looking forward to the construction of new projects with a capacity of 4,164 Mw even as the state has developed 1,130 Mw of power projects.

Of the estimated hydroelectricity potential of 20,000 Mw, the state government has prepared plans to tap 15,000 Mw. The government plan-ned to start the work on 3,000 Mw projects in the 10th Five-Year Plan period, the official said.