Asserting that there is no electricity scarcity, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa claimed on Friday that the present power crisis in Tamil Nadu “is due to some wantonly created technical snags in generation units.”
Addressing a campaign meeting at Palayamkottai near Tirunelveli, she said, “these snags are being artificially created only with the motive of causing power crisis in Tamil Nadu. Those who are behind this conspiracy will be identified and taken to task.”
While the state under her earlier regime between 2001- 2006 had earned huge revenues by selling surplus power to other states, it had become a “power-scarce State” since the successor DMK regime failed to execute some agreements signed during the fag-end of her previous tenure for increasing the power generation capacity.
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Consequently, the state plunged into an acute power crisis and the total quantum of power generated was just 8000 mw. The DMK was then thrown out of power in 2011 as the Karunanidhi-led Government had not adopted a far-sighted approach to power generation, she pointed out.
Within 34 months of AIADMK’s return to power, 4,000 mw was added and generation peaked to 12,000 mw, Ms. Jayalaithaa said. A huge supply gap was thus bridged in the shortest time span. But the jubilation did not last long “as artificial technical snags” were created, especially during the Yercaud bye-election to impose shutdowns in Central power generation units to tarnish the AIADMK Government’s image,” she said. “We solved all the problems successfully and now we have 12,000 mw of power. There is no scarcity; but the present breakdowns are the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy to impose load-shedding,” Ms. Jayalalithaa said, adding, efforts were being made to ease the crisis soon.