BHUBANESWAR: Under attack for the power crisis leading to load shedding in rural as well as urban areas, the State Government on Wednesday attributed the problem to erratic rainfall and coal scarcity even as the Opposition Congress staged a walkout in the Assembly in protest. “Scarcity of coal, supply of low quality coal to thermal power producers and erratic rainfall led to low generation of both hydro and thermal electricity,” Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said while making a statement on the admissibility of an adjournment motion notice on the issue. Admitting that electricity generation in the State has not been adequate to meet the demand, the Minister said there had been drastic fall in hydro generation due to low reservoir level located in the southern parts of the State. “Though the State used to get 60 per cent of its electricity requirement from hydro projects, this time it drastically fell due to low reservoir level in Indravati, Upper Kolab and Balimela hydro-power stations,” he said. Power generation in different multi-purpose reservoirs is the last resort, he said adding irrigation and drinking water are given top priority. While the State used to generate 800 to 1,200 MW of electricity during winter season, this time it was only 200 to 300 MW, the Minister pointed out. When power generation - in both hydro and thermal sectors - had gone down, there had been increase in the demand for electricity due to rural electrification and rapid industrialisation, the Minister pointed out. While the State’s average power requirement is 2,700 MW to 3,300 MW during peak hours, its availability was only 2,340 to 2,400 MW. “There is shortage of about 300 to 400 MW in the State,” he said. Besides, the hike in the price of coal by Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL) by 45 per cent in two years had also added to the crisis. As MCL increased the coal price, different Captive Power Plants (CPP) were not interested to generate more power, he said. Adding to the crisis, power supply from Central sector had also fallen, he said. The State is drawing about 50 per cent less electricity from NTPC plants, he added. Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh of Congress, however, blamed the State Government for its inability to handle the situation. “You can’t go for power cut in the State which was power surplus some years back,” Singh said. Mamata Madhi, Ramchandra Kadam, Rajendra Chhatria, Gobardhan Das (all Cong) and Pratap Chandra Sarangi (Ind) also criticised the State Government for the inept handling of the situation.
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