THE TN POWER CRISIS..!!!!

               In may last year when the elections are held, the main promise in the AIADMK’s poll manifesto was to rectify the power crisis in Tamil Nadu, which is crippling the state for some time.It is unfortunate to mention after 10 months of assuming office the government had failed to plug-out the power crisis and it is increasing day by day leaving many in worry and anger. It is a huge setback to the government run by Ms.J.Jayalalithaa given her remarkable administrative skills. Given this scenario the opposition parties have left no time and are striking a high voltage campaign against the government which is still mulling to tide over the crisis.

               As an Engineer,it would be unwise it I fail to educate my knowledgeable society which is at the receiving end. As said by Mr.Rajeev Ranjan, Chairman of TANTRANSCO, power demand in the state is increasing 8 to 10% every year. As a result, the power demand of the state ranges from 11,500MW to 12,500MW and the government is now capable of supplying only 8,000MW , leaving the power deficit to a staggering 3,000 to 4,000 MW.

              

                 Firstly,if we see this menace through the political prism this govt is paying for the sins done by the last regime under the erstwhile Chief Minister of TN M.Karunanidhi. To qualify my previous accusation there was no long term plans considered to increase the power generation in the state. During the last regime, steps were taken to generate a mere 206MW of power against the power deficit of 4000MW.Apart from this,the thermal power plants are running below efficiency is because of the usage of low quality coal bought by the government.

                  

                 The present government is purchasing power from the other states, but due to the transmission line congestion we are unable to utilise the quantum of power being purchased. At present, govt. is buying 500MW of power from Gujarat, but it is utilising just 235MW due to shortage of transmission corridor and purchase of 727MW from UP(Dadri  power station ) was also curtailed.

                  This shows the lack of attention by the central government which is responsible to construct transmission lines to connect various regions in the country to bring down the power congestion. In this case the state government is totally not in a position to be blamed.

                It is worth mentioning here, as soon as the AIADMK swept the polls and assuming office, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu made a visit to New Delhi, met Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh to allot 1000MW from centre’s share. Even her personal request to the central government went in vain and just a month back central government allotted just a meagre 100MW.  

              

                 Construction and commissioning of power plants cannot be done in a day, but a responsible govt should foresee the needs of common people, commercial and socio economic growth.

                                                                                                            (to be contd.)