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| JK to reel under darkness as APDRP misses yet another deadline | | | Peerzada Ummer
ET Report
srinagar, Mar 6: The deadline for the implementation of the Restructured-Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (R-APDRP) was March 2016 but government is yet to initiate any measure to review its progress.
Sources in the Power Development Department told Early Times that there is not even a single area covered entirely under the R-APDRP in the state and that the snail's pace of the project implementation has lead to the serious crises on ground with the project failing to meet another deadline.
Earlier, the authorities amid much fanfare has claimed that to ensure the betterment in state's power sector R-APDRP- the project worth 1600 crores has been sanctioned and insulated aerial power cables would be installed to bring down the T&D losses due to which the state exchequer has to spent plethora of funds every year. This year around 4000 crores were spent by the government to tackle the T&D losses.
Amid the T&D losses are highest in the state when compared to rest of India, the R-APDRP was given the green signal so that people of the state no longer bear the brunt of the power paucity.
However, the slow pace of the R-APDRP project implementation has revealed how much the state authorities downplayed the importance of providing power to masses in the state. Sources said that the state government didn't take any serious measure to ensure that the project meets the deadline by March 2016.
The scheme was ought to be implemented in two phases, covering the entire state. For the first phase of the project, the Central government had sanctioned Rs. 151.99 crores under R-APDRP while an amount of Rs. 1665.27 crores had been approved for the second phase of this vital project.
The second phase was supposed to cover two main cities including Jammu and Srinagar for which the funds estimated at the cost of Rs. 52.89 crores have been approved. These schemes were proposed to be taken up under National Electricity Fund for which Rural Electrification Corporation is the nodal agency. Under this scheme 30 towns have been identified as project areas in J&K state with population of above 10,000 as per 2001 census. For this purpose, the government had already taken a pilot exercise and some 30 towns have been identified as project areas in J&K, another 283 towns with population of over 4000 have also been identified that will be covered in the second phase. Phase -1 of 283 towns is to cost Rs. 171.61 crores and phase-2 will cost Rs. 1073.33 crores. These projects were proposed to be taken up under Phase-II of R-APDRP through a special dispensation which could not materialize.
In May 2014, the project was outsourced to the EMR Limited for laying insulated cables. Due to company's non- serious approach, the work for the implementation of the project is yet to begin in Srinagar.
The authorities at the PDD while passing the buck to each other, blamed the floods of the year 2014 for the delay. What could put the PDD helmsmen in tightspot is the fact that more than a year has been since the floods struck the state but company is yet to start work over the project. |
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