Chhattisgarh stops rail traffic to protest cut in power share

In the evening, Bais threatened a more violent agitation if the Centre did not give the state its ‘‘rightful’’ share. Till early this month, Chhattisgarh was receiving 498 MW of power from the Centre. But after an order on settlement of assets and liabilities between Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Union Power Ministry allocated 288 MW of power to the former, leaving the state with 210 MW power — a meagre 10 per cent of the total 1,618 MW power available to the two states. The Ministry has already made it clear that it would not review the decision.

State Electricity Board chairman Rajeev Ranjan today said the state has been severely hit by the sudden cut, especially at a time when it was attracting new investments. ‘‘We may have to go for a power cut in the industrial sector, if things do not improve,’’ he said.

Raman held a meeting with State Electricity Board officials today to prepare a draft for his meeting with Union Energy Minister P.M. Sayeed in New Delhi on November 19. ‘‘We are asking the Centre to review the decision,’’ he said. Initially, the state government had threatened to move the court against the decision. But the government is yet to make up its mind.