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Uttarakhand reels under power cuts

DEHRA DUN: Reeling under a heavy shortage of power from its own generating units and unable to draw sufficient power from the national grid or other sources, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited has imposed heavy cuts all over the State including the Capital city of Dehra Dun.

Some ray of hope for improvement in the crisis scenario has come from the successful testing of the first unit of the Manheri Bhali phase – 11 project on Monday. This unit is expected to add 76 MW of power when commissioned on January 14. When fully commissioned by April, the project will yield a total of 304 MW, a power ministry official said.

Much of the problem has roots in the heavy diversion of power to the industrial units that have come up over the past few years. These industries enjoy tax rebates and have to be fed power under the agreement.

According to Jagmohan Lal, Director (operations) UPCL the energy generation in the State had fallen by nearly half and it had become impossible to draw power from the national grid and the power banking arrangement States due to a similar shortage there also. The situation would improve only after the winters recede and the rivers start getting more water from the glaciers, he said.

Reacting to the poor power supply, a large number of residents wondered why Uttarakhand was not trying to go in for a better option like nuclear power which was cheaper and did not depend upon rivers which got frozen in the higher reaches during winters. The nuclear power option becomes all the more relevant as the State aspires for high industrialisation to improve the economy.

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Uttarakhand reels under power cuts

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