Syed Habib, Jaipur. This time in Rajasthan, amidst the scorching heat, the sudden and unannounced power cut has created an uproar in the entire state. People are suffering and distressed due to power failure for hours, day or night. But behind this entire crisis, there seems to be a bigger game of ‘administrative failure’ and ‘poor monitoring’ than technology. This crisis has raised such a big question, which the top officials of Discom are avoiding answering – after all, how did Rajasthan, which was providing uninterrupted electricity in this season till last year, suddenly get pushed into the hell of ‘power cut’ this time?
Mathematics of data: Demand is same, then why is supply derailed?
Every time the electricity department officials shirk the situation by making the excuse of ‘heat and overloading’, but if we investigate deeply, the situation this time exposes the claims of the officials:
No unexpected surge in demand: It is not at all the case that this time the demand for electricity has suddenly crossed any record compared to last year. The demand is almost in the same range as last season.
Increase in production (especially solar energy): Rajasthan is the leader of solar energy in the country. In this one year, new solar energy plants have been commissioned and traditional power production has also improved.
Simple question: When the state has adequate power generation resources, there is no unexpected increase in demand, then why are the grid and feeders collapsing like a house of cards?
Last year’s ‘magical team’ vs this time’s ‘flop show’
This entire matter is directly related to the failure of man-management and monitoring. The government will now have to seriously consider and introspect that:
Last year, who were those officers, engineers and core team who completed the pre-monsoon maintenance on time through excellent planning?
What management did that team of last year do that even in the scorching heat, the tripping and faults were rectified within a few minutes and the public had no idea about it?
What happened this time that despite spending crores of rupees on maintenance and contractors, the calls to the control room have stopped being answered and thousands of complaints are pending? This time, was ground level monitoring limited to paper review meetings only?
Urgent need for high-level investigation
This is not just a matter of weather patterns or technical glitches, rather it smacks of administrative negligence and ‘scam’. The budget was put aside in the name of maintenance, but when the time came for wires breaking on the ground and transformers burning, the entire system was seen on ventilators.
Need of the hour: In view of this public anger, the government should now set up a high level investigation committee. There should be a thorough investigation as to why last year’s successful model was sidelined this time? Accountability of negligent officers should be fixed, because the public is now tired of the excuses of officers sitting in AC rooms and making hollow claims of ‘phase-wise repairing’.
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