Districts reel under power cuts

13 October 2011

biswabrata goswami
KOLAGHAT, 13 OCT: The power situation in both East and West Midnapore districts, along with other parts of the state, remained grim today. There is no indication that there will be any significant improvement in the power supply in the next 48 hours.
Frequent power cuts, coupled with an acute water shortage over the past few days, have left residents living in the districts praying for respite. Fed up with unscheduled power-cuts, local residents in East Midnapore have demanded that officials announce the schedule of power cuts so that they can make alternative arrangements.
According to the latest report of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the state, along with some other states in the country, is staring at a blackout situation as nearly all thermal power generation units are operating on a fast-depleting supply of coal that can run out any moment.
At Kolaghat, Bakreswar, Farakka, Talcher, Kahalgaon, Tuticorin, Khaparkheda, Panipat, Badarpur and Kota there is barely a day's stock of coal left. Nearly 19 other thermal units have less than seven days of coal. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is failing to import coal in sufficient quantity, leading to a huge generation loss in at least four NTPC thermal plants where the coal stock is less than four days, a CEA official said.
According to officials at the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL), the shortage of coal supply for the last few days has forced the corporation to shut down a 210 MW unit in Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant (KTPP).
Mr Pulak Roy, the general manager of KTPP, said: “On an average, four to five coal-loaded rakes are required everyday to run all our six units, while the railways provides barely two or three rakes every day for our power station. As a result, we have been forced to shut down one of our six units for the past few days. In the remaining five units, we are generating 800 to 850 MW compared to the capacity of 1260 MW."
Coal India Ltd is citing unprecedented rain at several mines and the Telangana stir as causes behind the squeeze in supply. A CIL source said, "Unprecedented rain has sapped the coal supply from several mines, leaving thermal plants across the country to survive on dregs. The situation has worsened in the past month due to heavy rains at a large number of Coal India mines, which has washed out roads and resulted in less coal being lifted. This has reduced production as well as the dispatch of coal to power plants."
Meanwhile, the water supply in several municipal areas of the districts has been badly hit as power goes off for six to eight hours a day in different phases in these areas.  The services in different hospitals across the districts have also been affected in the past two days owing to the unscheduled power cuts.
Workers under the banner of the KTPP Thika Shramik Union, a Trinamul Congress-dominated workers’ union, today submitted a deputation before the general manager alleging that two officers at the plant are sabotaging the power generation by influencing some workers in the hope of defaming the new state government.