A blackout still

Suresh Prabhu, Union power minister, will almost certainly still be in the dark about what tripped the lights in eight northern states inc...

Suresh Prabhu, Union power minister, will almost certainly still be in the dark about what tripped the lights in eight northern states including Delhi on January 2. There is nothing in the Central Electricity Authority8217;s investigative report that was not already known. The same set of circumstances, the same bad practices that produced the blackout of 2001, caused earlier collapses of the northern grid and no one has been able to do a thing about it. Nevertheless, the Central Electricity Authority CEA needs to be congratulated. Its report simplifies matters for the Union power minister by singling out one villain from a rogue8217;s gallery. Of course, the Powergrid Corporation will not consider it fair to be singled out thus and indeed points its finger at other culprits 8212; the National Thermal Power Corporation and the Uttar Pradesh power department 8212; for not following orders. Others blame Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd for supplying substandard material, Punjab and Delhi for drawing excess power, theengineers for routinely switching off system safeguards and the CEA itself for turning a blind eye to longstanding bad practices and gross indiscipline.

But focusing and taking punitive action against one villain 8212; one with specific responsibility for managing the grid 8212; has certain advantages. It is more easily done than moving against half a dozen public sector bodies and it will be exemplary. Most importantly, it could compel improvements in performance. For example, if Powergrid does actually have to pay a price, it may no longer be content to complain its orders are flouted, it may actually do something about it. But even while demanding and squeezing more efficiency out of the existing system Suresh Prabhu should know the buck stops with him. And one of the areas where the government has been negligent is in finding resources for upgrading equipment and technology. Better practices will undoubtedly make a difference even as structural changes in the power sector over the medium term will surely bring big improvements. But also, ask why the engineers switch off the frequency relays and other safeguards most of the time, why there are wide powerfluctuations, why the northern grid responds slowly or not at all to emergency measures and the answers will point, among other things, to equipment in generation and transmission centres which is badly in need of replacement.

Given the snail8217;s pace at which new investment is going into the power sector, the prospects of upgrading existing systems look bleak. One can only assume that the group of ministers on power, which plans to electrify 80,000 villages by 2007, knows something the rest of the country does not. At the moment there is little indication that the government can raise the kind of funds required to support a GDP growth of 7 per cent. Foreign investor interest has not revived and the resurgence of the Enron controversy will, unless resolved soon to the mutual satisfaction of the Maharashtra government and Enron, deepen the pessimism fed by slow-moving approval procedures and even slower reform of state electricity boards. Enron also proves government agencies and independent power producers still have a lot to learn in the Indian context.