Riyaz Bhat
Srinagar, Jan 2: Chief Minister (CM) Omar Abdullah Thursday said that Jammu and Kashmir was facing AT&C losses of more than 50 percent. However, the national average of the Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses is nearly 15 percent.
Omar in a media interaction session with media said, “This year we are providing more electricity to the people in comparison to the previous years.”
“As of now we are supplying around 1700-1800 MW of power. However, the unrestricted demand for power is much more,” he said.
On asking about the permanent solution of power crisis in Kashmir region, the CM said, “As early as our power projects being constructed will get completed, we can store the power from the projects for the winter use.”
Omar further said, “As of now the AT&C losses in the power sector are more than 50 percent.”
He said that the promises made by the NC government regarding free 200 Units of electricity will be possible only when smart meters will be installed.
“We can measure the consumption only after installing the meters. We would like to roll out the scheme by Mar-Apr. So it is obvious that the 200 units of free electricity will be delivered to those consumers who will have smart meters installed,” Omar said.
About the unscheduled power cuts, the CM said that it usually happens when there is any maintenance, damage or any work being done by the department.
On Wednesday it was reported that Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) on an average is getting nearly 1700 Megawatts (MW) of Power against the average demand of nearly 1800 MWs.
A top official informed “The local DISCOM on an average was receiving nearly 1700 MW of power against the peak demand of over 1800 MW.”
The official further said that the highest demand of power in the ongoing winters was recorded at 1922 MW including the enduring power curtailment schedule.
Pertinently, last year, the AT&C loss of the Power Development Department was one of the highest in India—causing a gap between power purchase costs.
In the previous fiscal, the AT&C losses were of the order of 50 per cent against the national average of 19.73 per cent.
