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Tackle power issue on priority: Digvijay

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL, DEC. 19. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, today said that instead of passing the buck it would be prudent on the part of those who are now at the helm of affairs in the State to view the ongoing power crisis as a question of continuity that needs to be addressed on top priority. Mr. Singh made this assertion while talking to The Hindu today.

Asked to react on the State Chief Minister, Babulal Gaur's allegation at a press conference yesterday that the power generation capacity of Madhya Pradesh did not go up by even a single megawatt when he was in power in the State, Mr. Singh said that he would not like to join a debate in this matter. When pressed for a reply, he said that during his tenure as the Chief Minister the total power generation capacity had gone up by more than 1000 MW due to projects like Birsinghpur, Bansagar, Tawa and Hasdeo Bango.

"The generating power plant load capacity had gone up considerably and we were generating more power from the existing plants'', Mr. Singh said adding that the main crisis began with the dismantling of the State Electricity Board with the partition of Madhya Pradesh and creation of the separate Chhattisgarh State on November 1, 2000.

Mr. Singh said that during his tenure the Madhya Pradesh Government had also launched the Asian Development Bank- funded power sector reforms program to make the power sector financially sustainable.

The entire initiative under this programme was geared to reduce system and transmission losses and improve operational and financial performance through more effective billing and collections.

Work was also in the final stages on Indira Sagar, a key project on the Narmada river, he said and added the foundation of the multi-purpose 520 MW Omkareshwar project, which is scheduled to be completed in February 2008, was also laid during his tenure. Incidentally, work on the Maheshwar project is now held up as the promoters of this power project have been facing hurdles on the finance front, he pointed out.

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Tackle power issue on priority: Digvijay

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