Solving power crisis within six months of coming to power was a prominent claim made by the Telangana government during its week-long anniversary celebrations. Irony has its strange ways though, because it is not the Telangana people who owe it to the government, but the Telangana government which owes to its citizens, its farmers in particular, for consuming fewer units.
A closer comparison of the power supply figures in Rabi crop season between 2014 and 2015 reveal that the average demand State-wide has come down drastically, allowing the transmission authorities and distribution companies breathe easy.
This is further bolstered by data of paddy cultivation, which plummeted by 42 per cent from the Rabi of 2014.
As per the information obtained from the power utilities, the daily average power demand (calculated as Energy Required) in all districts of Telangana has come down by more than 17 million units (MU) in April this year, when compared with the demand of the same month last year.
Calculated for a whole month, the decline comes to more than 500 MU.
There was naturally a corresponding decrease in the average of actual power supplied, which came down by six million daily units for the month. The drop in demand was marked since January, 2015 when Rabi cultivation began.
It was short by an average eight million units per day in January, seven million units in February, and four million units in March, when compared with the previous year’s figures.
April is the month when power demand usually peaks due to a spike in agricultural power consumption.
However, in the current year, the daily average demand dropped steeply to 137 MU in April, from 154 MU of March, owing to hailstorms, untimely rains and crops withering due to lack of water, experts inform.
A look at the Season and Crop Coverage Report for Rabi of 2014-15 by the Department of Agriculture explains the shrunk demand.
Sown area of paddy in the State has come down from 8.28 lakh hectares in the Rabi of 2014, to 4.85 lakh hectares in the current year. Total cropped area too came down significantly, from 15.39 lakh hectares in 2014, to 10.88 lakh hectares in the current year.
Acute power crisis
Acute power crisis faced in last Kharif, discouraged many a farmer from sowing paddy, which was also followed by government’s appeal to them to avoid water intensive crops.
Sunken water table too is one more significant factor for idle pump-sets.
The average depth to water level has increased from 9.47 metres below ground level (mbgl) in April, 2014, to 12.77 mgbl in April, 2015. The ground water situation was worse than state average in districts such as Medak, Nizamabad, and Nalgonda.
