Govt blamed as Andhra power crisis worsens

In a scathing attack on the government,Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu said the state had been pushed 15 years backward in the power sector. The agriculture sector has not been getting even five-hour power supply,as against the promised seven hours,in the crucial Rabi crop season. Students are languishing because of power cuts ahead of the examinations while people are forced to bear the brunt of power outages. Industrial sector is the worst hit with a weekly power holiday and daily power restrictions, Chandrababu Naidu said during a short discussion on the power crisis in the Assembly on Wednesday.

With the gap between demand and supply increasing,the government has imposed two- to four-hour power cuts in cities and eight- to ten-hour cuts in rural areas. If another proposal goes through,the industry may face the brunt with two power holidays every week.

Till last week,despite hour-long power cuts and one-day power holiday to industry,the summer demand went up to 250 million units (MU) per day causing a shortage of 23-25 MU daily,Chief Minister K Rosaiah,who also holds the Energy portfolio,told reporters.

Industry representatives are blaming the government for mismanaging the situation. The government and distribution companies knew that there would be a shortage of power but they did not make arrangements to buy power from power grids. The state cannot even buy power now because other southern states have booked the space on the power grids to take power to the respective states, said an industry representative who met the CM along with others to apprise him of the industrys woes.

Anticipating demand,states have to book space on the grids for purchasing additional power by December or latest by January. But the state did not act.

The government is now mulling buying power from private sources that would entail an expenditure of Rs 12 to Rs 15 crore every day to buy 20 MU. The states power distribution companies are in a mess as the government owes more than Rs 10,000 crore as arrears. The government is willing to buy power on behalf of the industry . The industry will bear the expenses, Rosaiah said,adding that it was a temporary arrangement.