Himachal floods affect power supply in Kashmir; shortfall reaches 200 MW

SRINAGAR: Floods in Himachal Pradesh have affected the power situation in Kashmir.

Floods in Himachal have wreaked havoc. Power generation has also been hit in several hydro projects in the neighboring state. As a result, the power supply to the valley has been affected.

Official figures reveal that Kashmir valley is falling short of 150 to 200 MW due to the floods in Himachal.

“Flood situation is far more serious in Himachal. As a result, some power stations have been hit. This has affected our situation here,” Javed Yousuf Dar, Chief Engineer, KPDCL, told The Kashmir Monitor.

Official figures reveal that KPDCL is currently supplying 1200 MW of power to consumers in the valley. The electricity demand in Kashmir is more than 1300 MW.

“We also had a situation given the flooding in Chenab. We have restored Baghliar, Salal, and Dulhasti power stations,” said Dar.

Jammu and Kashmir government is keeping its fingers crossed over the power situation given the flooding in Himachal. “We are receiving regular updates. The situation is serious. Hope the situation stabilizes and power supply is restored,” said Dar.

Official figures reveal that Jammu and Kashmir spent Rs 6317 crore on power purchases in 2020-21. In 2019-20, Rs 6072 crore were spent on power bills. In 2018-19, power worth Rs 6058 crore was purchased in Jammu and Kashmir.  The government only realized revenue of Rs 2600 crore from consumers.

In 2021-22, the local power generation was 14721.5221 lakh units. In 2020-21, the generation was 51257.62 lakh units. Likewise, the local generation in 2019-20 was 54532.034 lakh units

Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to disconnect the electricity of the defaulters. “There will be disconnections of those who will not pay,” said an officer.

Apart from metering, the government has started revising the electricity load agreement of consumers using energy-guzzling appliances.

The government has entrusted assistant executive engineers to review the electricity load in their jurisdictions and accordingly revise the load of those consumers using energy-guzzling appliances.