The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, July 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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POWER & WATER CRISES-II
Drought-like situation in most dists
Punjab sets up panel to study impact
Tribune News Service

The Punjab Government on Sunday constituted a high-powered official panel to study drought-like conditions prevailing in the state. The panel would include two Financial Commissioners and the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University. The Deputy Commissioners have been directed to undertake revenue survey of the loss to the farmers. The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, would visit the union Capital soon to apprise the Prime Minister of the seriousness of the situation in the state and seek a special package for the farmers. He would also meet Union Agriculture Minister, Ajit Singh to request him to send a Central team to Punjab to assess the loss and announce relief.

Chandigarh, July 21
A drought-like situation prevails in most districts of Punjab as rain during the past six weeks has been negligible to nil. Against the predicted arrival of the southwest monsoon on June 28, many parts of the state are yet to experience their first major rain of the season.

In spite of repeated warnings against continuation of the wheat-paddy cycle in the state, little has been done to provide an alternative to farmers. As a sequel to insistence on paddy, the underground water resources are depleting at an alarming rate, thus putting a premium on the availability of water.

A look at the comparative figures of progress of the monsoon reveal that overall Punjab has only 50 per cent of the normal rainfall of 140 mm until July 19. Last year it was 125 per cent of the normal rainfall.

Water and power supplies are closely interlinked. If there is sufficient rain, the power supply position eases tremendously. But this time, things are moving the opposite way. There is no rain. As such, the state is reeling under its worst ever water-power crisis.

Intriguingly, Bathinda with two thermal power generation stations is the worst hit as far as the power supply is concerned. Power cuts are unannounced and unscheduled and many of the residential areas remain without power up to 12 hours a day.

PSEB sources say that of the 24,000 million units of electricity produced annually, 16.75 per cent are lost in transmission and another 7 per cent of total production goes in power theft.

In the absence of a vigorous monsoon, the farmers have taken to diesel generators, LPG cylinders, oil engines and tractors to power their tubewells for irrigating their paddy fields. In many areas, they have ploughed back wilting paddy.

In Jalandhar, agitated consumers organised dharnas and rallies at many places in protest against unannounced, long power cuts. Such dharnas were held at Lallian Khurd, Mand villages and in Kartarpur. In Udhowal village, power supply was restored after six days.

Mr H.M. Jain, Chief Engineer, North, says that power cuts have been imposed both in rural and urban areas because of the growing difference between demand and supply.

The situation has been no different in Faridkot where a large number of submersible pumps fitted on tubewells were damaged because of low voltage and erratic power supply. The position is bad in Machaki Khurd, Sher Singhwala, Behle wala, Machaki Kalan, Tehna and other villages. Nowhere was power supply for more than four to six hours a day.

Mr Satwant Singh Sangha, Superintending Engineer, Faridkot Division claims that eight-hour power supply to rural feeders was being ensured. It is erratic power supply that is playing havoc with drinking water supply. In Jalandhar, for example, many areas remain without water supply as the local Municipal Corporation does not have sufficient tankers to reach the “waterless zones”. There are areas in Jalandhar, where people have to fetch their daily supply of water by covering a distance of more than 2 km. The worst-affected are Garha, Tagore Nagar, Model House, Model Town, Central Town, Pir Bodla Bazar, Ali Mohalla, Aman Nagar, Ghai Nagar, New Model House, Lambra Colony and other areas.

Mr Jagjit Singh, Commissioner, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, maintained that it was because of erratic power supply that water supply could not be maintained properly. “We are providing water tankers in certain areas on a daily basis,” he added.

In Bathinda, against a daily demand of 5.5 million gallons of water, the actual supply was 3 million gallons. Though 100 km of pipelines were laid in certain new localities, the augmentation of supplies were not undertaken simultaneously. In many areas in Bathinda, potable water supply is made on alternate days. A project to construct a new water treatment plant for making available an additional 5 million gallons a day is under construction and may take a couple of years to complete. Shortage of power supply has affected water supply in many areas as seven tubewells in the city supply about one million gallons a day.

The situation is equally alarming and disturbing in Faridkot district.

With inputs from Prabhjot Singh (Chandigarh), Vijay Mohan (Bathinda), Ramesh Gupta (Faridkot) and J.S. Malhotra (Jalandhar).

(CONCLUDED)