Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BHUBANESWAR
By Himansu S M
[ 20-October-2009 ]
[This report tries to analyse the past developments which have willy-nilly lead
to such a situation today. This may throw some light regarding “what to” and
“what not to” do in future..]
Power Situation in Orissa Page 2 of 15
CONTENTS
Contents...........................................................................................................................2
Abbreviations Used in this Report.................................................................................3
Units Used in this Report..............................................................................................3
Power Situation in Orissa........................................................................................................4
A Suggestive Plan for its control ........................................................................................4
Introduction...................................................................................................................4
The Back-Drop..............................................................................................................4
Scope of the Report......................................................................................................4
Part – 1 : ..........................................................................................................................5
How such a situation has arisen......................................................................................5
Analysis.........................................................................................................................5
The present state of our water reservoirs : ..............................................................5
The Thermal Power Plants can’t deliver to the full potential :...................................5
IPP Projects getting delayed :....................................................................................6
The CPPs are unable to deliver the surplus power to State Grid :.............................6
Low Tariff in Orissa :..................................................................................................6
Expensive Power Back-up support from other States :.............................................7
Role of Different Agencies............................................................................................7
State Government & the Electricity Department :.....................................................7
Central Government :................................................................................................7
Roll of the Public :......................................................................................................7
The Hand of Bureaucracy :........................................................................................8
The Industrialists :.....................................................................................................8
Part – 2 : ..........................................................................................................................8
How to control the situation / How to live with it.............................................................8
Summary of Analysis :..................................................................................................8
The Future Course of Action :.......................................................................................9
What The Governments Should Do ?.........................................................................9
What The Bureaucrats Can Do ?..............................................................................10
What The Distributor Companies Can Do ?.............................................................11
What the Commission Can Do ?..............................................................................11
What The Industrial Consumers Can Do ?...............................................................11
What The Government Departmental Consumers Can Do ?...................................12
What The Public Can Do ?........................................................................................12
THE BACK-DROP
The OERC has put the reasons of the latest power situation in Orissa as the following :
1. The hydro reservoirs in the state which are the backbone of the power supply system
in Orissa are in depleted situation.
2. The thermal power stations are not able to deliver their full potential due to various
factors like non-availability of coal etc.
3. The IPPs who were supposed to start operation by this time have yet to come up due
to various inherent problems like land acquisition etc.
4. The CGPs in the State are also unable to deliver their surplus power to the State as per
our requirement.
5. The tariff in Orissa is low compared to those in other States.
6. The power required to meet the deficit in demand arranged, (in case available) from
outside the state shall be at an exorbitant rate which the general consumers of the
state may not be able to afford.
In this scenario, it is inevitable that there is need of demand management in the use of
energy by all categories of consumers including industrial consumers of the State.
and straight forward common sense and general knowledge. At places this analysis may
seem to be too simplistic without anything new, but we all know that often simple &
practical solutions are the best and we all neglect them.
The purpose of this report is two-fold :
1. As a response to the OERC, a suggestive plan is submitted herewith.
2. It’s also meant for public learning, education & awareness regarding the colossal
nature of the problem, and how to live with it.
PART – 1 :
HOW SUCH A SITUATION HAS ARISEN
ANALYSIS
Let’s start our analysis from the very reasons OERC has stated to be the root cause of the
present power situation of Orissa.
2. The other reason can be the maintenance, and it’s deliberately allowed to happen.
Every body knows to what extent we maintain our plant & machinery. Any body can
say that the most probable time for a machine breakdown is while its load is at the
peak. We have great trained brains, excellent and skilled man-power, can we not plan
our shut downs at the low demand period so that we can avoid break-down at the high
demand period.
The CPPs are unable to deliver the surplus power to State Grid :
For this, the reasons are not explicitly stated, but let’s assume that the problem is the
same i.e., non-availability of coal. The same inference is deduced. Here, we can add one
more point, that the central govt. thro’ NTPC doesn’t face any such problem. This means
the state is deprived of its legitimate share.
The other point is that “Non-availability of coal can be of two types :
1. There’s no coal reserves in the colliery – any body can say that this is not correct.
2. The mining of suitable grade of coal is hampered – no excuses like this.
3. There’s inadequate arrangements for transportation of coal to the plat site. We don’t
see any such problems, as roads, vehicles & other infrastructure are present.
Central Government :
The Central Govt. controls all the national power policies, but somewhere sometimes they
also play step-motherly attitude with Orissa. As of now, there are several power projects
are pending at various stages of implementation. We think, there are a few reasons as
following :
1. There is no political representation of state in the central govt.
2. There are no strong bureaucratic pressure on the centre by the state Govt.
3. By nature people of Orissa have a very high national (pan Indian) feeling. We consider
that thinking only or primarily about Orissa amounts to a narrow social attitude.
4. Orissa is a very poor state, and people are by far complacent.
5. Our political / social unity is very fragile.
6. We are generally lethargic and lack initiative.
7. We are satisfied with bare minimum requirement, and have limited aspiration.
8. So on & so forth.
9. All these mean that we have no bargaining power & we are always at the receiving
end.
The above listed attributes refer to the general public in the state. We are oblivious to
what is happening in Orissa, in the name of governance. The people in the know, prefer to
keep silent in view of their intellectual or career advancements. The rest majority are busy
in making just a single square meal every day (48%), out of which 33% don’t get one.
A famous political thinker once said that the people always get the Government &
Bureaucracy they deserve. We don’t think anything else could be more nearer to this
statement than us in Orissa.
On the other hand, we have another section of the public, who resort to power theft.
Unfortunately they also include the higher echelons of society. Some others don’t pay the
electric bills, which include some of the well to do individuals.
The Industrialists :
The four distribution channels pertaining to four geographical regions in Orissa were given
to privately managed companies. Within a few years all of them backed out because what
they expected didn’t materialise. Three of them are now managed by a well known
national company, and the fourth being managed by the state itself by compulsion.
In fact there was lot of disturbances created by profit minded companies to take part in
this reforms without making any investments. They came here to take advantage of the
situation expecting that there would be a great return because of (1) low tariff, (2) cheap
land, (3) state sponsoring, (4) cheap labour, etc. But it didn’t work out that way.
Information and experience say that all these companies adopted unethical business
practices and owe a huge amount to the state govt.
And then there are the cases of industrial & production houses who as consumers of power
owe huge amounts of money to the distribution companies. There are several renowned
companies who are power defaulters.
PART – 2 :
HOW TO CONTROL THE SITUATION / HOW TO LIVE WITH IT
SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS :
Let’s summarise the analysis in Part-1 above. Whether one likes it or not, we are all
involved as a party to the grim situation. Without casting aspersion to any body or any
group in particular we can summarise as follows :
1. The central Govt’s apathy towards the State,
2. The state Govt’s lope-sided or hap-hazard industrial policy, and the lack of bargaining
power with the centre,
The power shortage is a national scenario. Orissa is experiencing it just for the last one
year. As said earlier, the happy days are not due to the power reforms done in 1996, but
because of certain inherent nature of the conditions prevailing in Orissa. Also it can’t be
said that there was no positive result of the reforms.
The situation is becoming bad to worse day by day.
1. The purchasing power of the people are increasing day by day. One international
report on wealthy men in the world says that the number of wealthy men in India
grows at the fastest rate (42% in 2007-2008) in the world.
2. The availability of white goods (Luxury & power consuming) are increasing because of
technological advancements.
3. The “consumerism” is also increasing.
4. Hence the burden on electricity demand.
5. On the other hand the number of poor also increases, but most of them don’t have
electricity.
Now the time has come to ponder and plan meticulously for the future course of action.
1. The Central Government should expedite the execution of all the approved or
incomplete power projects in Orissa.
2. Another key area is Nuclear Power Plants. India should have a clear-cut policy for
peaceful utilisation of nuclear power for its ever increasing demand. N-Power plants
constitute only 6% of the installed capacity in India.
3. The state Government should carefully plan any future power projects in the back-drop
of coal availability and allotment of linkages. On the one hand the state government
complains of “non-availability” of coal, and on the other it keeps on sanctioning power
plants after plants to private companies. It’s beyond any stretch of imagination for
anybody to explain this.
4. Or rather, they should review all the existing thermal power plant requirements of coal,
and in addition, all the on-going projects. Make sure that all the coal input are met in
time.
5. The Govt.s should sincerely encourage non-conventional and renewable energy in a
big way, if possible with incentives.
6. A long-term project to produce electricity from waste is a must for any govt. This has a
dual purpose :
a. Waste management – all our towns are filled with garbage.
b. Perennial source of power – no dearth of garbage anywhere.
7. Maintenance of safe transmission practices, like no lowly hanging high-tension lines.
It’s not to imply that the bureaucrats have low credibility, but rather their priority is not
public service. Many of them do excellent things for the public, but they do it directly or
indirectly for their own career advancements. The down-trodden remain as they were.
Not utilising the sanctioned money for public oriented programmes in full, is another
appropriate example. This is another area of discontentment. It’s generally observed that
most of the central or global assistance for the people’s projects remain un-utilised. This is
allegedly because in the presence of strict vigilance the concerned implementing agencies
don’t spend, for they don’t gain much.
5. And above all, don’t mis-appropriate power, and pay all the legitimate bills.
CONCLUSION
During our discussions, we have tried to analyse the power situation from all possible
aspects. We have also tried to suggest corrective measures for each category of people
concerned. We have also given some workable suggestions.
Let’s remember a fundamental point. We all know that there are several agencies involved
in the worsening power situation. No one agency is singularly responsible, rather all are
collectively responsible. And hence if the corrective method is shared collectively, it can
work out successfully. But again, there are no short-cut or immediate remedy. All these
are medium-term or long-term suggestions.
One more pertinent point is that we can’t change certain things like :
1. The basic structure & policy of Governments – National or State.
2. The basic instinct of human nature : The same individuals behave differently when
they are placed in different category of people, like Govt., administration, politicians,
technical staff, industrialists, public, etc. Thinking and attitudes change.
3. And finally the Nature.
The only thing we can control is to some extent our habits and practices towards a
common goal. It’s better to enjoy less for a longer period than to exhaust all our resources
within a short period and suffer. Finally, let’s sum up the suggestive plan in the following
section. We know that some section of people will not feel comfortable in adopting, or
rather they may oppose it. But if we sincerely follow these, then we may get some results
in the due course of time.
Disclaimer :
This report neither tries to fix responsibility on any particular category of people, nor tries
to cast aspersion on any individual. We are all humans and to err is human. This is our
earnest endeavour to learn from past lapses and make everybody aware of that fact. What
we need at this juncture are :
1. Correct Govt policies,
2. The political will,
3. Impartial bureaucratic machinery,
4. Efficient service delivery,
5. Sincere public commitment.
6. And finally, a mental preparedness to learn to live under power shortage situation.
[ End ]
© Himansu S M / 20-October-2009.
Divine Light ( Dibyajyoti ) Consultants ( DILICONS ), Bhubaneswar, Orissa Sate, India.