Curb power theft to meet demand: Naik
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik on Monday said an effective check on rampant power theft would not only help the state meet much of its electricity demand but also make it possible to reduce power tariff.
Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the construction of the new building of the Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) here on Monday, he said UP like many other states was facing an acute demand-supply gap.
The state, he pointed out, could tackle the problem in two ways, first by increasing its generation and secondly by controlling transmission and distribution losses (read power theft).
Availability of adequate electricity for all the stakeholders, according to him, was one of the important components needed to make Uttar Pradesh an Uttam Pradesh. “But while there were constraints in adding new power capacity, much of the available power was wasted due to leakages and theft,” he pointed out.
“The transmission and distribution losses in UP are as high as 32% compared to just 11% in Kerela and 16% in Maharashtra,” the governor said in the presence of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, among others, including UPERC chairman Deepak Verma and principal secretary Sanjay Agrawal.
The governor further said while a portion of losses was for technical reasons and unavoidable a large part of it was due to pilferages.
Naik advised the power department engineers to treat a power consumer as king giving top priority to solving his grievances. However, at the same time he also told them to be strict with dishonest consumers indulging in power theft.
“Dishonest consumers involved in power theft should be made to stand on a crossing for all to see,” he said, urging the engineers to make all possible efforts to plug in power theft. He, however, added quickly, saying “But those involved into
power theft are generally big fish.” GOVT WELL AWARE: CM
Speaking on the occasion chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said his government was well aware of the importance that electricity held regarding state’s development.
He said that party MLAs and MPs told him regularly to arrange availability of electricity, come what may because, according to them a good power situation might guarantee the party another term in power.
“We are, therefore, conscious of the fact that availability of adequate electricity is necessary for development of the state as well as the government’s own image,” he pointed out. The CM also said that it was for this reason that his party supported a government (UPA-1) at the Centre on the issue of the nuclear deal’
“Without Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), that government neither could have survived the noconfidence motion nor could the Indo-US nuclear deal seen the light of the day,” he claimed and further added, “We have now demanded the Central government to set a few nuclear power plants in UP.”
Earlier, UPERC chairman, Desh Deepak Verma presented a broad picture of the current power scenario in the state, which according to him faced a power shortfall of 30% Like the governor, Verma also felt that containment of transmission and distribution losses could lead to electricity getting cheaper in UP.