As the northern states of India reel under a record heat wave, Punjab is facing a power shortage prompting Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to curtail timings of government offices from 8 am till 2 pm in a bid to ease the domestic power situation.
What is a heat wave?
In the plains, a heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature is more than 40 degrees Celsius, and at least 4.5 notches above normal. If the temperature is 6.5 degrees Celsius over the normal, it is classified as a severe heat wave.
What is the magnitude of the power crisis in Punjab?
Farmers in several parts of the state are protesting the non-availability of power supply to irrigate fields. Cities like Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Mohali and Jalandhar are facing unscheduled power cuts lasting several hours, The Tribune reported.
Many areas in Mohali faced cuts of over 14 hours since the last 24 hours, Patiala and Bathinda had power outages of up sto seven hours and parts of Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Muktsar and Ludhiana had between six and 12 hours of cuts.
While Punjab can generate about 5,500 MW from various sources, it can import a maximum of 7,300 MW from the northern grid. The maximum power demand has touched 14,225 MW this year, which is 1,425 MW short of the 12,800 MW that the PSPCL has been able to provide.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said a burden of Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,500 crore has been put on farmers who are forced to use diesel generators.
Why is Punjab facing a power crisis?
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Chairman-cum-Managing Director A Venu Prasad said the demand had shot up due to the paddy transplantation season and the peak summer.
Officials of the PSPCL also said the failure of a unit in the Talwandi Sabo thermal power plant in Bathinda had amplified the problem.
Moreover, PSPCL sources told The Indian Express that it lacks required supply of distribution transformers, 11 KV XLPE (Cross-linked Polyethylene) cables, poles, LT (low tension) cables, and 11 KV shunt capacitors. The stock of transformers is about 25 percent of their required number.
Why are PSEB Engineers protesting?
The chief minister also urged agitating power department employees to call off their stir which has aggravated the crisis, with breakdowns from overloading of feeders and sub-stations not being fixed promptly.
The PSEB Engineers’ Association had objected to the “technically unsound decision” to shut down state sector thermal plants and rely totally on private power producers.
“Despite strong protests by the association, the recently renovated and healthy thermal plant at Bathinda was dismantled and two healthy units at Ropar are still being kept non-operational,” the association said in a statement.
“It appears no serious efforts were made to arrange sufficient power even though it was anticipated that demand may touch 14,500 MW in this paddy season. Now field engineers are being gheraoed, manhandled and blamed for the chaos for which only the management is responsible,” the statement added.
How is Punjab trying to remedy the power crisis?
Singh has asked the state finance department to spare Rs 500 crore to buy additional power, even as it continues to Rs 20,000 crore fixed charges to three private thermal plants.
A PSPCL spokesperson said, “The PSPCL has appealed to government departments, boards and corporations to use electricity judiciously by switching off lights, devices and high power-consuming appliances such as air conditioners for the next three days. Further, wherever possible, employees are advised to avoid using multiple AC units within the office, which will decrease the power load on the system as well as the electricity bill.”
Moreover, the state government said government offices will function from Friday at 8 am-2 pm till 10 July and cut down on power supply to high energy consuming industries.
Industries located in the Central Zone comprising Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna, Amloh, Sirhind, and North Zone comprising Jalandhar, Phagwara and Hoshiarpur have been directed to shut down their units compulsorily till 4 pm on Saturday.
What is the Opposition demanding?
The Shiromani Akali Dal demanded an immediate financial package for paddy farmers who were being forced to use diesel generators to rear their paddy crop amid the power crisis in Punjab. Majithia demanded that the state reduce value added tax on diesel by Rs 10 per litre and conduct a revenue assessment of farmers who had ploughed their standing paddy crop due to lack of power supply. Such farmers should be given a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre.
The party said it would gherao the chief minister’s residence and stage dharnas across the state of the affected farmers are not given relief.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed during the former SAD-BJP government went against the state’s public interest and urged that a law be brought in now to nullify them. “Punjab can purchase power from National Grid at much cheaper rates, but these Badal-signed PPAs are acting against Punjab’s Public Interest,” he said.
He said the Punjab Assembly can bring in new legislation with retrospective effect to cap power purchase costs to prices available on the National Power Exchange at any given time.
AAP state unit chief and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann also criticised the faulty PPAs and PSPCL has so far paid Rs 20,000 crore as fixed charges to three private thermal plants set up during the tenure of the previous government. Of this, almost Rs 5,700 crore had been paid without getting any power supply, he said.
When is southwest monsoon likely to reach north India?
The National Weather Forecasting Centre of IMD said no favourable conditions are likely to develop for further advance of southwest monsoon into Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan during the next one week.
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) department of climate change and agriculture meteorology officials told Hindustan Times that monsoon had arrived 16 days in advance on 14 June, which had weakened the weather systems in the region.
Head of the department Prabhjyot Kaur said, “Due to a break in the monsoon pattern, the heatwave will continue till 10 July.”
“Heat wave condition at few places with severe heat wave condition at isolated places in Delhi, Haryana and West Rajasthan,” according to the IMD forecast.
Which other countries are facing a heat wave?
A historic heatwave in western Canada and the United States Northwest has led to hundreds of deaths over the past week, The Associated Press reported. United States President Joe Biden said climate change was driving “a dangerous confluence of extreme heat and prolonged drought”.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a United Nations body, announced on 1 July that the new record for the maximum temperature for Antarctica is now 18.3 degrees Celsius, eclipsing the previous high of 17.5 degrees Celsius in March 2015.
How to avoid suffering from a heat stroke?
Avoid strenuous activity in hot weather. Schedule such activities for early mornings or the eveningsDrink plenty of fluids and consume drinks that improve the electrolyte balance in the bodyAvoid alcoholic or sugary drinksWear loose-fitting, light clothes
With inputs from agencies