‘Electricity supply crosses 1050 Megawatts’: Despite inclement weather, power situation largely unaffected in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Inclement weather notwithstanding, the power situation has largely remained disruption-free in most of the areas in Kashmir.

Official figures reveal that PDD is currently supplying 1050 Megawatts of electricity to consumers in Kashmir. Two days ago, the electricity supply was 1285 MW. Officials said this shows that the electricity supply has not been majorly affected.

The power situation in Srinagar is back to normal. Electricity has also been restored in North Kashmir despite heavy rains and snowfall.

“Srinagar is normal. There is no major disruption in the city. North Kashmir too is fully restored,” Ajaz Ahmad Dar, chief engineer, PDD, Kashmir told The Kashmir Monitor.

Dar said the restoration work in twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian is going on a war footing. “Our restoration teams are in the field. They had restored electricity in most of the areas, but the system developed fault again. Our teams will be working during night hours as well. Hopefully, power will be restored by late evening. By tomorrow, everything will be restored in south Kashmir,” he said.

PDD teams are trekking on foot to reach the far-flung areas before sundown. However, snow and gusty winds are hampering the restoration operation in south Kashmir.

“We were expecting load to increase. There are some patches in far-flung areas that are not fully restored. Our teams are on their way to restore the electricity in these areas as well,” Dar said.

Officials said consumers also cooperated by not overloading the system. “People have avoided overloading and have generally cooperated with PDD. This has helped the department to ensure uninterrupted power supply,” said a senior officer.

Meanwhile, untimely snow has wreaked havoc across Kashmir. The horticulture sector has taken a severe hit due to early snowfall. Hundreds of apple trees have been uprooted.  There is massive damage to the apple crop as some of the varieties were yet to be harvested in the valley.

 An official spokesman said advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq khan, has deputed Director General (DG), Horticulture, to South Kashmir to assess the loss.

Advisor asked the DG to deploy requisite field staff to assess the damage caused to trees and fruits. He has been asked to furnish a report and recommendations in this regard at the earliest.

 Advisor Khan also asked the Principal Secretary, Horticulture, to ensure regular monitoring of the whole exercise besides extending all possible support to the affected orchardists.