Omkar Dattatray
The electricity in Jammu is playing hide and seek with the people and the position of electricity is most deplorable. The electricity consumers are facing untold sufferings, inconveniences and hardships because of the sad condition of electricity in Jammu. The consumers by and large are paying electricity dues honestly. In these days of heat wave and scorching heat, the hardships of the people are compounded by the frequent electricity cuts both in metered areas and unmetered areas. It is the responsibility and duty of the power Development Department to provide uninterrupted electricity to the consumers so that they may not suffer due to lack of adequate power. The people of Jammu are facing electricity crisis of the worst order in these hot summer day when the humidity has also increased and people need adequate electricity. But adequate electricity is conspicuous by its absence and due to the apathetic condition of electricity; people are reeling under electricity crisis which is unprecedented in nature.
The government has installed smart meters in major portion of Jammu and it was expected that the woes of power consumers will come to an end. But the woes of the electricity consumers did not cease but continued and even were compounded due to lack luster approach of the PDD. The PDD seems to be unconcerned about the shortage of electricity in Jammu and is reluctant and indifferent towards the inconveniences and hardships of the people because of the paucity of adequate electricity. Some day earlier the government had stated that there will be no electric cuts and shut downs in smart metered areas and it was only in theory and papers but in actual world there is no respite from the scheduled and unscheduled electric cuts which compounds the difficulties of the Jammuites who continue to suffer a lot despite the installation of smart meters. It seems to be the fait accomplice of the people of Jammu to face the power woes of the worst order. It is pertinent to note that in most areas of Jammu, the electricity during the night is of the names sake and the people are facing uneasy nights due to the lack of adequate electricity. In Talab Tillo area and in Govind Nagar of Gole Gujral area the electricity is playing the hide and seek with the residents of these areas and the PDD is in deep slumber and has no time to attends towards the woes of the consumers and mitigate these woes or at least to lessen it.
The fact is that the demand of the electricity increases manifold in hot summers and the PDD should plan in advance how to deal with the increasing demand of the electricity. The government should purchase its deficit electricity from the neighboring states to tide over the power crisis and it cannot let its people to suffer due to the lack of electricity.PDD seems to be busy and interested only in collecting the bills and fares of electricity and is sending inflated bills to the poor consumers who are faced to pay these hefty electricity bills. But in return they are not getting proper and adequate electricity supply that too in these hot summer and humid days thus compounding the woes of the people. The government should wake from the deep slumber and take concrete steps to augment electricity supply in most of the areas of Jammu as all these areas are facing electricity crisis and people are suffering from the want of adequate electricity. The tall claims of the PDD that the position of electricity will get improved at least in smart metered areas but nothing of the sort happened and there is totally no improvement in metered areas and the power consumers are suffering despite paying hefty electricity bill and that on time. The government should wake up and recognize its duty and responsibility and provide adequate electricity to people especially during nights as it is most difficult to pass on the nights with the so meager electricity. The crux of this write up is this that the people of Jammu are suffering most in these days of scorching heat and humidity and their problem gets compounded due to the lack of adequate electricity supply. The government should wake up and pay urgent attention towards the addressing of the electricity woes of the consumers who pay electric bills as honest consumers and in return they only get neglect and apathy of the PDD. Thus, the government should pay top most attention towards the woes of the power consumers and honestly and seriously try and strive to mitigate the woes of the power consumers so that some relief is provided to them so that they pass on their life easily and without any difficulty. The government should understand its duty and responsibility and rescue the people of Jammu from the woes of electricity.
Thus something on war footing needs to be done to augment the power position and supply adequate electricity to people so that some relief is provided to them and they pass on days in these summers. Government has no inborn right to send hefty electricity bills to consumers if they cannot provide uninterrupted power supply to them. So the government should at the earliest take steps to augment the power position and supply and provide electricity to consumers without any cuts. The PDD should prepare a due schedule of power curtailment for both the metered and unmetered areas and stick and implement it strictly so that consumers will heave a sigh of relief. Few days back the transformer in Gobind Nagar Gole Gujral got damaged and the PDD replaced it and within a fortnight the replaced transformer also got damaged thus putting the consumers of this area to great inconvenience and hardship in these days of hot summer. The PDD should do away with its bad practice of imposing unscheduled power cuts so that consumers will feel some relief. Moreover during nights in these hot days, there should be no unscheduled power cuts which compound the woes of the power consumers. The government should immediately procure electricity from other states to tide over the power crisis in Jammu and Kashmir. It should provide adequate power supply to people so that they will not face any difficulty for want of adequate electricity supply. People should also make a judicious use of electricity supply and not waste power and also cooperate with the powers so that adequate electricity supply is made available to people so that they may not suffer any more in these hot and humid days. Government needs to stop the hide and seek practice played by the electricity with the consumers of Jammu. It is hoped that the government will come to the rescue of the people and provide them the needed electricity at the earliest and tide over the power crisis.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)