The ongoing power crisis due to coal shortage at power plants has led to frequent load shedding that lasts for several hours for those subscribing to power produced by different power plants owned by Damodar Valley Corporation and National Thermal Power Corporation.

The situation can be accessed from the fact that BCCL is being forced to stop power supply for around six hours for different districts of Jharkhand that falls under its command area, including, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Giridih, Chatra, Koderma, Hazaribagh and East Singhbhum.

This apart, the Kahalgaon (Bhagalpur)-based power plant of National Thermal Power Corporation is being forced to indulge in short supply of power due to the worst ever coal crisis. As a consequence, less power is being drawn in Jharkhand through the Dumka grid that is connected through the Kahalgaon power plant.

Despite the fact the production as well as despatch of coal to power plants has been increased by different subsidiaries of Coal India Limited including BCCL, CCL and ECL, there is an acute power crisis.

Talking to The Telegraph Online today, Rajesh Kumar Gupta, patron of Federation of Dhanbad Zila Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “The crisis has started to affect both the trade and industry during the most crucial time for business in Jharkhand, with Durga Puja being round the corner while the situation is more difficult for industry as industries can’t be run on inverters and generators.”

“Though, the crisis was generated due to slump in coal production due to monsoon. The heavy rains and cyclone that followed made it difficult to mine. However, we are unable to understand the lack of preparation by the government in this regard,” said Gupta.

“The sudden shifting back of many industries including the hard coke units from imported coal to Indian coal coupled with the decrease in production of coal during monsoon has aggravated the crisis,” further added Gupta.

Echoing the sentiments, Nirmal Jhunjhunwala, President of Giridih Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “The wrong policies of the central government are to be blamed for the coal crisis and the resultant power crisis in the country. If the situation continues for some time the economic growth of the country would be derailed as the smooth running of the industries is key for the growth of the country.”

Similar was the reaction of Sanjay Baid, President of Bokaro Chamber of Commerce, “We are the worst hit victim of the power crisis in Chas as besides the four hours of official load shedding by DVC, several hours of load shedding by Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited is also being carried out as a result of which getting people are having to stay with electricity for over 10 hours a day.”

BCCL CMD, PM Prasad, “We are working day and night to improve the coal production and supply to power companies. The situation is likely to normalize within a month.”