The Hindu : Front Page : “Industrial units violating power norms”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 19, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

“Industrial units violating power norms”

R. Sairam

MADURAI: Non-compliance by some of the large industrial units in southern districts with the power consumption norms set by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) is posing major problems.

The Board had imposed the Restriction and Control (R and C) measures on industries since November 1, 2008, under which high-tension industrial units and commercial establishments had to undergo 40 per cent power cut. However, TNEB’s surveys revealed that in January, on an average, 10 per cent of the high-tension industries in Madurai region were violating the norms, K. Balasubramanian, Chief Engineer (Distribution) of Madurai Region told The Hindu here on Saturday.

Although this figure was down from the initial 25 per cent in November, it was still a considerable number, he said, adding that overdrawing was placing an enormous strain on the State’s Central Power Grid.

The five districts in the region are Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram. The region has 576 high-tension industrial connections, 3.35 lakh commercial service connections, 23,829 industrial connections (other than small scale industries) and 19,043 public water supply services.

The situation was fast becoming untenable, as in one recent week, the peak hour demand suddenly shot up by more than 600 MW. This forced the TNEB head office to instruct all regions to ascertain the reasons and act accordingly.

Of the 547 HT services, the R and C measures have been imposed on 397 units with the remaining being essential services such as railways, airports, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), hospitals and educational institutions getting exemption, he said.

“If only all the industries were to comply with the norms, the daily two-hour load shedding for domestic consumers could be curtailed completely,” Mr. Balasubramanian said.

He said that at present, the penalty for non-compliance by industries was imposing three times the normal rate of energy charges. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) does not permit levying heavy penalties or disconnecting power lines under any circumstance but for non-payment of dues.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page