The threat of darkness covering 12 states of the country (Energy Crisis in India) is starting to arise. The reason behind this is that the stock of coal in the country is decreasing.
The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has drawn the attention of the central and state governments to depleting coal reserves for domestic thermal power plants.
It has warned of an energy crisis in 12 states. Federation President Shailendra Dubey said the crisis could worsen due to low coal stocks to set fire to thermal power units to generate energy.
The government had also recently acknowledged this energy crisis.
Shailendra Dubey said, 'After October last year, once again coal crisis is being seen in 12 states. In the first fortnight of April, domestic electricity demand reached a 38-year high for the month.
While there was a 1.1 per cent power shortage in October last year, this shortfall increased to 1.4 per cent in April this year.
Dubey said that Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Jharkhand and Haryana are facing power cuts ranging from 3 to 8.7 per cent. He urged the government to take immediate steps to replenish the coal reserves in thermal power stations to avoid a power crisis.
AIPEF said that thermal power generation is going to be affected due to a shortage of coal. This has already happened in October last year. The demand for electricity in Uttar Pradesh has reached 21,000 MW, while 19,000-20,000 MW is being supplied there.
The president of the federation said, "However, there is no serious coal crisis in the thermal power plants operated by the UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam.
Their reserve stock is only 26 per cent of the standard norms. As the temperature rises, the electricity demand will also increase, which can make the situation difficult.
Shailendra Dubey said the reason behind this situation is the lack of foresight of the management. He said that in October last year, the Parichha Thermal Power Station had to be closed due to a shortage of coal.
Union Energy Minister RK Singh has blamed the steep rise in the prices of imported coal due to the Russo-Ukraine war for the coal crisis.
At the same time, he has said that the lack of trains to carry coal to the power stations is also the reason for the crisis. To supply coal to thermal power stations, 453 coaches are needed in the country, while only 379 were available in the first week of April.
Power outages have been reported in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Jharkhand, and Haryana, among other states.