Monitor News Desk
Srinagar: Chief Engineer power development department (PDD), Aijaz Ahmad Dar on Saturday urged people to desist from excessive use of heating appliances during Sehri and Iftaar time to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers in Ramadan.
“KPDCL at present is supplying around 16% more energy as compared to last year. Morning peak (sehri time) load touched 1631 MWs on 15 April which is the highest load recorded ever (avg. being around 1500 MWs),” he said.
Dar requested people to rationalize load and avoid using heating gadgets at Sehri and Iftaar time in order to avoid unscheduled cuts.
He said that extra load on power feeder during peak times is the cause of power breakdown in many areas across Kashmir.
Chief Engineer’s statement on frequent power breakdown comes a day after people from many North and South Kashmir complained that the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) has failed to adhere to the power schedule even in the holy month of Ramadan, leaving the residents across Kashmir valley to suffer.
People in parts of Srinagar have complained of inadequate electricity, saying that the department has failed to ensure adequate electricity even in the holy month of Ramadan.
‘We are facing erratic power cuts despite being assured adequate electricity in the ongoing holy month of Ramadan,” says a local.
‘The department has even failed to ensure the electricity during Sehri and Iftari time,’ another local from central Kashmir said.
However the slight drop in temperature has resulted in additional load on system
Chief engineer PDD, Aijaz Ahmad Dar, while speaking to KNS, said that the people should make judicious use of power during month of Ramzan to have uninterrupted power supply.
“Compared to last year, we are supplying 47 lac additional units of energy which means supplying additional 200 MW of power round the clock,” he said.
Dar said that the department during the winter was running 700 Megawatt down to meet the actual demand of consumers during winters.
“The need is 2,200 Megawatts in valley but we are only providing 1500 Megawatts. At this moment the demand still is 1950 MWs. This is forcing us to go for curtailment,” he added.
“It may be true that some areas have power cuts during Iftar or Sehri time, but we are trying best to have sufficient power supply to everyone. I again request people to make judicious use of electricity,” he added. (KNS)
