Ground reality belies HVP claim
by Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 10 — "Satta main aane ke do maas baad 24 ghante bijli uplapdh karwaenge (24-hour electricity supply would be made available after two months of coming to power)".

This was the promise made by the ruling Haryana Vikas Party in its election manifesto.

After three years of HVP rule the Minister of State for Power, Mr Attar Singh Saini, said on July 4 that the 24-hour supply "means 24-hour two-phase supply for rural areas, eight-hour three-phase supply for agriculture tubewells, two-phase supply for drinking water in the morning and evening and supply for urban consumers and industry as usual."

Though an official spokesman said here yesterday that the power companies were sticking to the promise made by Mr Saini, reports received from the field strongly suggest that even Mr Saini's truncated promise remains a pipe dream for the people of Haryana.

The field reports talk of long and unscheduled power cuts, the duration of which at many places add up to more than the period for which the people get power. Low voltage is another common problem in the state.

Official sources say more power in terms of units is being supplied this year as compared to last year. They say the supply is interrupted only when the frequency of current goes down below the specified limit or when there is a sharp drop in voltage. Admitting that the situation had been critical for the past couple of days or so because of unexpected closure of Unit No. 5 of the Panipat thermal plant, the sources say the unit has been recommissioned since yesterday.

The far-from-satisfactory power situation is also leading to a law and order problem at many places in the state. An HVPN employee was killed by villagers in Karnal district who were protesting against non-supply of power, sending shock waves among the field staff. Reports of clashes between villagers and the electricity staff have also come from three more villages in Karnal district in the past four days.

Traffic was blocked on the Jagadhri road in Ambala in the night of July 7, inviting use of force by the authorities to clear the road.

The senior vice-president of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), Mr N C Jain, says the power situation in Ambala has deteriorated after June 30. During the past three days long unscheduled power cuts had deprived residents of even drinking water.

Dr V K Goel, a known physician of Ambala, says the Mahesh Nagar area could get power for only two and a half hours in the day yesterday. The situation was no better today.

The general secretary of the Ambala chapter of the HCCI, Mr Praveen Goel, said the Baldev Nagar feeder remained without power from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.; 8.55 a.m. to 9.37 a.m.; 11.45 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.; 1.50 p.m. to 2.15 p.m.; 4 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to late in the evening yesterday.

A former president of the Ambala City Municipal Committee, Mr Ramesh Singla, said in several localities like Vikas Vihar, Prem Nagar and Model Town unscheduled power cuts lasting from one hour to two hours ridiculed the claim of the HVP Government. He said in certain localities like Old Post Office, Novelty Cinema area, Tandura Bazar and Jain Bazar the situation was worse.

Mr Nand Lal Garg, who has his unit on the Jagadhri-Ambala road, is very much satisfied with the power supply. However, another industrialist of Jagadhri, Mr Shri Gopal Goel, said the position had gone from bad to worse after June 30.