More than 100,000 people in Mango who have been grappling with erratic power supply for the past couple of months must get ready for nasty summer sweat.
Officials at Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL) blamed frequent breakdown at the Tenughat Vidyut Nigam (TVNL) plant in Lalpania, Bokaro, for the power pangs that Mango faced in winter and warned of a situation much worse in coming months.
“Both Golmuri and Gamharia power grid substations are dependent on supply from the state load despatch centre in Ranchi. The TVNL too is likely to see more snags with the onset of summer and this will take a heavier toll on power supply,” said a senior official at JBVNL, Ranchi.
He also explained why the Sikidri hydel power project in Ranchi, which generates around 120MW, might not be able to operate to its full capacity. “Summer means water scarcity, which is why any hydel power project can function continuously only in monsoon.”
Junior engineer of JBVNL’s Singhbhum electricity supply area Sanjay Mahto said the Golmuri and Gamharia substations had been receiving inadequate power for a month now, which prompted frequent power cuts and prolonged load-shedding in areas serviced by the state power utility.
Under normal circumstances, the Golmuri grid receives 30-35MW while Gamharia, which also supplies power to adjoining Adityapur industrial area, gets around 120MW. However, for the past few days, Gamharia substation is getting only 60-70MW and Golmuri around 25MW.
Short supply from the state load despatch centre is resulting in erratic power distribution in several localities of Mango for the past few days, which in turn is triggering water scarcity.
“We are being forced to fetch drinking water from distant places because poor power supply has handicapped most pumps in the area,” said Vishal Singh, a resident of Dimna Road in Mango.
A senior member of Jharkhand State Bijli Kamgar Union K.N. Singh said the Baliguma power grid substation was launched in 2017 to solve these woes of Mango. “But, the grid is unable to work properly because of inadequate supply from the state load despatch centre,” he added.
