Search the Internet           Tips

Govt keen to fix power problem permanently, says Suresh Prabhu

Y Siva Sankar in Bombay and
Ramesh Menon in New Delhi

1991: India decides to reform its largely state-controlled economy and allow foreign investment gradually. The country identifies power as a thrust area in the hitherto grossly neglected infrastructure sector.

Mid-October 1995: "The power grid fails every four hours in Bangalore," bemoans software consultant Robert V Binder in his diary after visiting India's infotech capital.

January 2000: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan reel under a power blackout. "The power grid has been working at the brink, and any slight disturbance makes it conk off," says a senior electrical engineer.

April 2000: West Bengal copes with acute power shortage as the eastern grid almost collapses due to low levels of generation and high levels of consumption.

May 2000: The southern grid faces disturbance; power cuts and blackouts unsettle Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

November 2000: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are forced to cut down power consumption as the western grid falls short of the demand by a whopping 4,500 megawatts. Low voltage problem looms over the region.

January 2, 2001: North India suffers a daylong blackout due to grid failure. Industry puts losses at billions of rupees.

Evidently, a decade of reforms and liberalisation has not improved the dismal scenario, commissioning of new power plants notwithstanding.

The resurgent economy's seemingly insatiable hunger for power strains the already fatigued electricity utilities. So much so that alternating spells of darkness and light become almost as frequent as day and night.

India's aspiration to emerge as an economic superpower in the 21st century, on the back of the infotech industry's global-scale success, suddenly seems laughable.

The government is keen to defuse the crisis. Soon after a series of meetings with top officials in New Delhi and his top Cabinet colleagues on Wednesday, Power Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu spoke to rediff.com.

"I've directed the officials to ensure that state grids function within the parameters set by the Centre. States ought to distinguish grid from greed. The ongoing inquiry will fix responsibility for the latest northern grid crisis," says Prabhu in a resolute tone, hinting that this time he will seek to fix the problem once and for all, come what may.

Prabhu's determination is understandable because the Opposition has been castigating the government for mishandling the power sector.

Congress spokesman Privthiraj Chauhan says Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit met Prabhu a few days before the January 2 blackout and alerted him to the impending crisis. "And yet, nothing was done. Erring states are going scot-free. No one knows the fate of reports submitted by numerous fact-finding commissions instituted after similar breakdowns in the past," says Chauhan.

D P Sinha, member of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, who was on numerous enquiry committees to study power disasters, is, candid: "Once the reports are submitted, there is some activity in terms of reading it and talking about it. Slowly the enthusiasm dies out and everyone forgets about it. The recommendations are often ignored or are partly implemented."

Even special zones in Delhi insulated from grid trouble collapsed on January 2. "This shows that no one bothered to check."

It is not as if only the Capital and its neighbouring states suffer. "The western grid is considered more stable and reliable than others, but even here, the quality of power supply is not very good. I wonder how we can sustain India's dream run in infotech. We've a long way to go," says A Velayuthan, member-secretary, Western Regional Electricity Board that oversees the power sector in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Conversations with industry analysts, economists and officials at power utilities yield useful insights into the maze and functioning of India's power set-up, and how they cause "grid failures" or "power breakdowns" that are little understood by the ordinary consumer.

Part II: Why states indulge in grid indiscipline

Part III: How to overcome power breakdowns in India

Money

Specials

Tell us what you think of this report