Only one day’s stock of coal is left in the thermal power stations from where the national capital, Delhi, gets its electricity.
Satyendar Jain, Delhi’s power minister, on Saturday held a meeting with the discoms, that is, with the representatives of power distribution companies, to discuss the following power crisis in Delhi which could lead to blackout in New Delhi.
Mr. Jain also said that there is an acute shortage of coal in power plants in many stations of Delhi there is one-day stock present. Mr. Jain appealed to the central government to transport coal as soon as possible through railways to avoid the situation of blackout in Delhi. Due to less or no stock of coal, there has been less productivity. Many of the plants have stopped their operations; some are on the verge to stop, whereas some who are operational already operating at 55% capacity, which is much lower than the required electricity needed for any state to continue its functions properly.
Delhi CM Mr. Kejriwal has also appealed to the central government to intervene and look into this matter as soon as possible and also suggested some key points which need to be considered by the central government in its priority list.
Mr. Kejriwal in his suggestions also suggested diverting the resources to another thermal plant where it is needed the most. Also, the Bawana plant, the only gas-based power plant in Delhi, should be provided with more stock of gas to at least maintain the minimum required supply.
Briefing about the situation across the country
As India stands on the verge of a blackout-like situation, 8 power plants in UP already stopped their production, and the remaining area is on the verge to shut down. There is a huge gap between the supply and demand of electricity. In some parts, 4-5 hours of power have been announced to make the situation a bit better.
Blame game
Mr. Alok Kumar, secretary, Ministry of Power, has put the entire blame on states for not collecting the money for their customers on time and not paying their dues to the coal companies. According to the central government, the states are themselves responsible for the blackout situation. Many states had already been sending a warning to the center regarding the shortage of coal at a much earlier stage.
Reasons for the power crisis
One thing is clear and purely evident – that this problem is man-made, created out the system’s irresponsible behavior, but there are some other reasons also like:
- According to the experts, due to pandemic when the situation got a bit moderate, there was high demand for electricity in different sectors, especially in manufacturing sectors. Due to the covid-19, economy was already operating below the curve and after when the situation got a bit better, different sectors were opened with a hope to cope up with the financial losses incurred due to lockdown. This created pressure over the units. The demand for resources went high, especially for electricity.
- There also has been a low supply from the mines itself due to unexpected heavy rainfall.
- Also, the imported coal costed even much higher than expected.
- Due to sudden demand, the supply side could not cope up as it was always expected to.
- Poor mismanagement, delays in taking prompt action, dysfunction of the departments, etc.
- Poor coordination between the departments of the center and state.
- Poor synchronization in departmental activities.
- Poor planning.
- Delays in the completion of developmental projects could have given more infrastructural facilities in the long run.
- Poor infrastructural facilities or connectivity leads to delays in transporting the raw material to the concerned manufacturing units, therefore, less or no production increase could be a probable outcome.
- Uneven crop pattern and climate change.
- Doubtful project reports
- Corruption even at a minor level
- Unproductivity
- Unavailability of resource
- External vendors do not deliver the project on time.
Conclusion
Whether it is pandemic or shortage of resources, there has always been a conflict between center and state. A blame game has always been witnessed at times where both should coordinate well to calm the situation and control the panic created in the general public.
The government is someone who is in power because of the people who believe in them and elect them with a lot of expectations from the elected government. When the government fails to meet those expectations it not only fails the people’s faith in the government but also somewhere hurt the spirit of our Indian constitution whose foundation has been laid by those great people who have given everything they had for the sake of this nation.
It is somewhere like cheating them also. Frequent blame gaming shows how the government of states and central departments are somewhere behaving irresponsibly.
I truly believe that the essence of co-operative federalism is that both the center and state governments should be guided by national interest and their efforts should be in a unified direction where the resources of the country blessed by mother nature are efficiently and effectively for the benefits of the people, whether it is related with the planning of the policies, allocations of the resources or with the implementation part, both elements of the country should try and work collectively.
Federalism is that basic feature of our Indian constitution that cannot be erased, destroyed, or altered by any constitutional amendments without the review of the judiciary. Our written constitution makes sure that the is a well-structured and balanced power between the center and state. No one is above the provisions of the constitution which at the same time encourages the publics’ participation in law-making. It also ensures that no government will cheat the people of India in any way.
It will not only help to allocate resources in a better way but helps to avoid future risks that could arise in the future and be prepared to advance. Apart from this, it can increase the confidence of people in the government and its policies which is also one of the features of democracy.
