Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday pulled up commissioner-secretary Power, Dheeraj Gupta, for continued delay in completion of a vital infrastructural project in Kashmir which would enhance its power transmission capacity.
“How long will you take to complete it (Alstang grid construction)? Last time you also sought eight months. What happened then?” Mehbooba told Gupta during a meeting she chaired here to review the power scenario in Kashmir which is reeling under darkness due to unabated electricity outages. The power scenario has worsened across the Valley for the past four to five days, forcing the Chief Minister to chair the meeting of top power department officers, including Gupta, on Sunday.
During the meeting chaired by the Chief Minister earlier this year, Gupta had assured her that the Alstang grid project would be completed by the end of this year. However despite the assurance, no funds had been released for the project construction and the work on it remains halted for the past three years.
In Sunday’s meeting that went on for an hour at the chief minister’s residence here, Gupta assured Mehbooba that the project would be completed in next eight months, it was learnt.
Along with the Alstang grid, the administrative department has also stopped funding for completion of some minor works for the Budgam grid station to make it functional. Both the grids would take Kashmir’s power import capacity from present 1250-MW to 1650-MW which is adequate to meet the present power demand.
Kashmir Post carried a series of reports on the present power crisis in the state which has been largely due to the failure of the state power department authorities to complete construction of the two projects despite the government of India releasing the funds for the same.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister referred to the news reports and asked Gupta about the long delay.
A source said that Gupta tried to justify the unexplainable delay in making the projects functional, citing inquiries and fund audit of the projects.
“The funds have been stopped for the past three years. How long will they (administration department) take more to complete the audit and release funds,” said an official.
The source said after the commissioner-secretary briefed the Chief Minister about Alstang project and the power situation in Kashmir, Mehbooba later separately directed some senior officials to “present the picture” of the issues confronting power sector in Kashmir.
“This in itself shows that the commissioner-secretary doesn’t enjoy confidence of the Chief Minister as far as matters pertaining to power sector in Kashmir are concerned,” the source said.
An official statement issue on Sunday evening said that taking a serious view of reports of difficulties caused to common people due to “occasional disruptions” in power, the Chief Minister directed ensuring a regulated supply to the consumers. She asked the power development department authorities to strictly adhere to curtailment schedule, the statement said.
Mehbooba directed the PDD to set up control rooms where consumers can approach with any complaint anytime. She directed linking of these control rooms with the police helpline Dial 100 “to reach out in all areas and make it more responsive.”
The Chief Minister directed that power supply be ensured to people during critical times like ‘Fajr’ prayers, morning and evening times, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, in a separate meeting with officials from public health engineering department, the Chief Minister directed ensuring regular water supply to consumers in all areas in Kashmir She directed pressing tanker service into action in areas where shortage of drinking water is reported. She also directed exploring the possibilities of digging hand pumps and wells to identify new sources.
Minister of state for power, Syed Farooq Andrabi, divisional commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmed Khan, secretary, PHE, M Raju, IGP Kashmir zone Muneer Ahmad Khan, heads of several engineering departments, deputy commissioner Srinagar Syed Abid Rasheed, Commissioner SMC, Reyaz Ahmad Wani and other officers were present in the meeting.
Mehbooba steps into power crisis issue, directs PDF to follow curtailment schedules
