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Lack of Central support plunges Bihar into “the dark ages”

Patna: There is nothing novel about Bihar being hit by acute electricity shortage well before summer. Once a pivotal poll plank, there is nothing the State Government can do about it either, especially with the Centre paying precious little heed to the power woes.

With angry mobs indulging in acts of arson across the State, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday that the fact remains that Bihar was power-strapped and would likely remain so for the next three years unless it receives its scheduled quota from the Central pool.

“The public anger is fully justified, but we have to accept the situation as it is. If electricity could be obtained by setting objects on fire, I would urge the people to do so,” quipped Mr. Kumar.

On Saturday and Sunday, angry over lack of electricity and water supply, mobs in Bhagalpur indulged in acts of arson, ransacking the Sultanganj railway station and setting a couple of cabins on fire.

Earlier, riot police were called in to control crowds manhandled the District Police Superintendent and laid siege to the local State Electricity Board.

“The State authorities are not unaware of or insensitive to the situation at hand,” Mr. Kumar said, adding that he had been warning of such an event since December last.

Accusing the local media of blowing events out of context, Mr. Kumar said his government had been making provisions of water supply over the past few months. For the past five years or so, instead of its scheduled daily allocation of roughly 1,650 MW from the Central pool, Bihar has been receiving 700-800 MW per day, with committed services such as defence, railways and airways consuming at least 360 MW leaving the State's 38 districts to be serviced on less than 500 MW per day, of which Patna alone requires 450 MW.

The problems have been further compounded with NTPC's Farakka unit supplying less than its usual quota of power and with the closure of its two Talcher Thermal Power stations (TTPS) in Orissa in 2009.

Mr. Kumar said that the key to power restoration in Bihar lay with NTPC.

Of the four major power projects intended to tide over the State's power blues by 2013, the NTPC is collaborating with the State Government on two plants at Nabinagar in Aurangabad district (expected to generate 3,300 MW) and on the Kanti plant in Muzaffarpur.

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