Industries in Dhanbad, already impacted by a sluggish economy that has taken a further downturn because of the lockdown, are facing yet another crippling blow: inadequate power supply.
In Baliapur block, with 12 hard coke factories, over 50 stones crusher units and around half a dozen oil mills, there is no power for more than six hours a day. This has been happening for the last six months.
President of Industries and Commerce Association B.N. Singh handed over a petition to Paritosh Kumar, the GM of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam’s (JBVNL) Dhanbad supply area, demanding his immediate intervention.
Ratan Lal Agarwal, owner of two hard coke factories in Baliapur, said, “The 5 to 6 hours of electricity in a 24-hour day is no use for industries as it is supplied during the evening or night when our factories do not operate. Also, diesel consumption is so high with generators running all the time that we are finding it difficult to bear this cost in the time of such financial crisis.”
Agarwal said they had complained to the local JBVNL authorities on several occasions. “They always cite a breakdown in the feeder or cable theft or wire snapping or transformer malfunction as reason. There has been no improvement is in last four months as promised,” he added.
Singh has pointed out in his petition that production at industrial units had dropped significantly due to poor power supply. “Less than 30 per cent industries have resumed operation following relaxation in the norms, that too with less than 25 per cent efficiency. Now, if they continue to incur losses due to high diesel charges, none of the units will be able to sustain for long,” he said.
JBVNL GM of Dhanbad supply area Paritosh Kumar claimed the overall power situation in Dhanbad was good and that he was unaware of any specific problem in Baliapur. “I will certainly look into it and try to resolve the matter at the earliest,” he said, adding that JBVNL was planning to integrate one more circuit with the newly established Kandra grid substation of Dhanbad to improve supply.
