power outages: BJP, Congress blame each other as power outages worsen in India

Congress and BJP are blaming each other for the power crisis with reports of power demand rising every day and power supply disruptions from several states.

Congress said Friday that the county is headed for a breakdown on the electricity front due to the center’s failure to transport essential coal from mines to power generation stations. It said that 16 states are already experiencing power cuts for about 10 hours a day, affecting domestic consumers and industrial units alike, and are likely to peak in the coming months.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot termed the situation as a “national crisis” and said that due to rising mercury levels, the demand for electricity has increased in 16 states and coal is not being supplied as per the requirement. He urged the people of Rajasthan to rationalize the use of electricity.

“This is a national crisis. I appeal to all to stand united in this crisis and support the (state) government in rectifying the situation. Turn off non-essential electrical appliances in your home or workplace. Set your priorities and use electricity according to your needs.

The All India Congress Committee dedicated the media briefing to the shortage of coal supplies and spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh cited official figures to explain the situation. “At 10:45 am on Friday, the demand for electricity in the energy exchanges was 16,035 MW and the power supply in these exchanges was only 2,304 MW and that too at Rs 12 per unit MW. This is because the 72,074 MW capacity plants are yet to function as they do not have the proper amount of coal.

Meanwhile, the Center and the BJP are blaming the state governments for mismanagement. Union Power Minister RK Singh on Thursday told media persons that there are huge bills pending in the complaining states and instead of buying power they are resorting to load shedding.

He said that electricity is available at the rate of Rs 12 per unit on the power exchanges but no state is buying it. He also said that there is enough fuel to run the power plants.

Union Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi was in Jharkhand on a two-day visit starting Thursday. He said that coal is not responsible for power shortage and it is due to rising prices of other fuels and imported coal. Jharkhand is facing the maximum power shortage of 17 per cent and the state BJP unit is blaming the state government. Jharkhand BJP president Deepak Prakash told ET, “It is a complete failure of the state government that today Jharkhand is the most power deficient state in the country.

Originally published at Pen 18