Coal crisis persists in Uttar Pradesh after slight relief
India Today
The coal crisis has been made worse by the heat wave across north and central India: electricity consumption has increased in the belt, including in Uttar Pradesh, resulting in power cuts that are several-hours-long.
The deepening coal crisis in India has resulted in rampant power cuts, often for hours, across the country. This has been made worse by the heat wave across north and central India: electricity consumption has increased in the belt, including in Uttar Pradesh, resulting in power cuts that are several-hours-long. Although the UP government has purchased an additional 2,000 megawatts of power, the availability of coal is still a major concern.
Due to the coal shortage and the increasing power demands due to the heat, the resolution to the crisis seems to be far away.
According to the latest figures, there are just six days of coal left at the Anpara Power Generation Station in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district. The Anpara Power Plant requires 40,000 tonnes of coal a day. On the other hand, the power generating station in the district's Obra area requires 12,500 tonnes of coal daily but is getting only 7,900 tonnes. This coal will last another four days.
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The Harduaganj plant in Aligarh also has four days of coal left. Here, 3,800 tonnes was supplied against the daily requirement of 19,000 metric tons. Similarly, only two days’ coal is left at Jhansi’s Parichha Power Plant. The daily requirement of the plant is 15,500 tonnes. In comparison, only 15,000 tonnes were supplied.
There has been a daily demand of 22,500 MW of electricity in Uttar Pradesh and about 19,500 MW of electricity is being supplied across the state - a 3,000 MW of power shortage. In the rural areas, power cuts last nearly eight hours. In the Nagar Panchayats there is no power for eight to 15 hours and in tehsils for seven hours.
Looking at the crisis, 2,000 MW of additional power has been arranged since May 1. Of this, 400 MW of hydro power will be taken from Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, 325 MW from Madhya Pradesh and 283 MW from Rajasthan. Similarly, 430 to 950 MW of electricity is being arranged through bidding.