The Hindu : New Delhi News : No power shortage this summer, assures Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

No power shortage this summer, assures Minister

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 5. Asserting that Government had nothing to hide on the issue of privatisation of power, the Power Minister, Haroon Yusuf, today claimed in the Assembly that both power distribution and its supply had improved tremendously in the past three years. He also announced formation of constituency-wise committees headed by area MLAs to coordinate with the private discoms to resolve the problems.

Replying to a short duration discussion on power and water problems initiated by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri (NCP), the Power Minister said the Government had drawn up the summer action plan and assured the House that there would be no power shortage this coming summer. Applauding the role of the power companies, Mr. Yusuf said transmission and distribution losses had recorded a decline during the past three years. Stating that the demand for power had risen from 2,870 MW in 2001-02 to 3,490 MW in April 2005, the Minister said both the quality and quantity of power had improved sharply.

He said the two companies of BSES had pumped in Rs. 1,250 crores during 2004-05 for upgradation of the power infrastructure in the Capital, while NDPL had invested Rs. 545 crores for the same purpose. Stating that the Government would not allow the consumers to be exploited and the interests of the MLAs would be protected at any cost, Mr. Yusuf said this was the reason it had been decided to constitute an area committee for power problems with the MLA as the head. He also announced that those consumers who had deposited the development charges with the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board would not be asked to pay again.

Taking part in the debate, Mr. Bidhuri said while the power supply and distribution had improved, there were many problems like fast running meters and inflated bills that remained unresolved. He was critical of the lack of coordination between the various private distribution companies and the elected representatives. Questioning the functioning of the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant, Mr.Bidhuri said that the award of contract had been given under mysterious circumstances. A lot of reports are emanating about the future of the plant but there was stoic silence on the part of the Government and the Jal Board on the issue. He sought to know why the plant was constructed when there was no tie-up for raw water with the Tehri Dam authorities or the Uttaranchal or Uttar Pradesh Governments. A lot of doubts have arisen over the raw water availability and the failure of the authorities to take appropriate action on the issue.

The Congress MLA, Vijay Lochav, said the discoms did not take the local area MLA into confidence on various issues including development works. He raised the issue of getting new connections that took almost four months. Mr. Lochav was also critical of the fact that despite his raising the issue of 35 per cent illegal connections in his area, nothing was being done as the local officials were hand in glove with the culprits. He urged the Power Minister to make the private companies more accountable and bring about transparency in their functioning.

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