Power ministry warns states against overdrawing from the national grid
03 May 2008
The power ministry has issued a stern advisory to states that have been overdrawing power, asking them to discipline themselves and not to jeopardize the national grid, failing which they would face severe action.
Uttar Pradesh tops the list of the states overdrawing power from the national grid followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat when the frequency fell below 49.0 Hertz. They have been warned that with the integrated grid any continued and rampant indiscipline may have extremely serious ramifications for the country as a whole.
In a meeting convened by the ministry of power yesterday to discuss the critical condition of the integrated northern / eastern / western and north-eastern grid in the recent past, Anil Razdan secretary, said that whenever necessary, the states must resort to suitable and prompt regulations. He said that priority must be given to drinking water supply, public utility services and essential services if the supply is less than demand.
Razdan also asked all state generating utilities including National Thermal Power Corporation and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation to function at optimum levels of generation capacity. He also suggested that states should scout around for any untapped captive power units and get them connected to the grid and also maximise liquid / gas generation. Observing that consumers cannot be given a raw deal, Razdan said that discoms must also take corrective steps to provide better services to consumers and prompt rectification of faults.
Power secretaries of the state governments of the northern and the western region as well as heads of central power utilities attended the meeting.
Power Grid Corporation of India's northern regional load dispatch centre and western regional load dispatch centre had issued cessation of overdrawal messages in April, 2008.
Razdan also took a serious view of the fact that some states were not only overdrawing power but were even not paying the UI charges and asked them to clear the dues immediately . Uttar Pradesh has an arrear of Rs744 crore, Jammu & Kashmir of Rs664 crore, Madhya Pradesh of Rs298 crore, Dadra & Nagar Haveli of Rs125 crore and Daman & Diu Rs46 crore.
