With the onset of early winters, power generation from Jammu Kashmir’s State polls has reduced by 80 per cent at a time when demand is set to mount further.
A top official of the Power Development Department (PDD) told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that there was a high demand for power from the second week of November.
“From across the regions, the total power generation capacity is 1200 Megawatts. However, as of now we are only able to generate a total of 200-260 Megawatts of power from the UT pool,” the official said.
He further said, “as of now there is a demand for nearly 2000 to 2100 MWs but the availability is only 1600 to 1650 MWs.
“During the curtailment hours, we cut off nearly 200-250 Megawatts at the peak hours. That is a force curtailment. Otherwise, we have 38-40 feeders that are working 24 hours,” the official added.
About the power curtailment in Kashmir region, the official said, “In urban areas there is a power curtailment of over 6 hours and over eight hours of power curtailment in rural areas.”
“There is very less generation because of less rainfall. As of now we are generating only 60-70 megawatts of power from the power grids of Kashmir. However, from one of the power grids in Chenab Valley, we are usually generate some 150 megawatts of power in the evening and late hours,” the official said
The power crisis has deepened in Kashmir at a time when winter has shown early signs of its entry amid persistent dry spell of months. The water level in rivers and streams continues to be low—(KNO)