New Delhi: In the midst of a severe coal scarcity across the country, the Delhi electricity minister alleges that crucial power facilities have less than a day’s worth of coal, threatening blackouts and disrupting critical services such as the metro and government hospitals.
Soon after the Delhi government’s warning of a possible setback in providing an uninterrupted electricity supply to important establishments in the capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that the state has somehow managed to provide power so far in the face of a crisis but solid steps are immediately needed to resolve the situation. “The situation in entire India is dire. We have to collectively come up with a solution soon. Solid steps are immediately needed to resolve this situation” he tweeted.
Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain today said that there is a severe coal crisis across the country and many places have just one day of coal left when they should have at least 21 days of reserve coal. He blamed the situation on a lack of coordination and appealed to the Centre to increase coal allocation to Delhi. “There are no backups as electricity can’t be stored…There are no payments dues from our side. The Centre should increase coal rack allocation. There is a lack of coordination that needs to be addressed,” he said.
“Due to disruption of power supply from Dadri-II and Unchahar power stations, there may be a problem in 24-hours power supply to many essential institutions, including Delhi Metro and Delhi government hospitals,” a Delhi government statement read.
“Due to disruption of power supply from Dadri-II and Unchahar power stations, there may be a problem in 24-hours power supply to many essential institutions, including Delhi Metro and Delhi government hospitals,” a Delhi government statement read.
According to the daily coal report of the National Power Portal, many power plants face an acute shortage of coal. This, coupled with the sweltering summer, has triggered blackouts across many parts of the country as states struggle to manage the record demand for electricity. Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortage, indicating a looming power crisis in the country, All India Power Engineers Federation said.
India has cancelled some passenger trains to allow for faster movement of coal carriages as the nation scrambles to replenish depleting inventories at power plants in a bid to avoid a full-blown power crisis, Bloomberg reported.
According to Gaurav Krishna Bansal, executive director of Indian Railways, the measure is only temporary and passenger services would be restored as soon as the situation improves. According to him, the state-run operator is attempting to reduce the time it takes to transport coal to power plants.
To accommodate the increased demand, the Railways aims to add 100,000 more waggons to its fleet. It is also building dedicated freight routes to speed up the delivery of products.
Coal reserves at India’s power plants have dropped about 17% since the beginning of the month, and are now only a third of what is needed.
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