DVB unwieldy, break it down: White Paper

According to the White Paper, the DVB has become “an extremely unwieldy organisation” and cannot even handle proper transmission and distribution of power. The Congress Government’s first policy paper on power takes a dig at the former BJP government’s failure to plug transmission and distribution losses which rose from 22 to 48 per cent in the last five years.

Thus it proposes complete “break-down” of the monolithic body, which has over 30 lakh consumers on its roll. And as part of the restructuring plan, DVB is likely to be decentralised and its distribution network divided into four or five segments which will be supplying electricity to different parts of the Capital. And these segments are going to be managed by independent government agencies, with the DVB as a nodal agency.

Interestingly, the White Paper does not talk about privatisation at all in anticipation and apprehension of trade union agitations. “But once we restructure the DVB as per recommendations of the White Paper, the government will take the next step towards the joint venture,” says a high-level source in the government.

The White Paper which was scheduled to be out by tomorrow, is likely to be delayed by a couple of days as final touches are being given to it.

The White Paper is understood to have predicted a shortage of 300 MW of power everyday in the Summer of ’99. Not denying that another terrible summer of massive electricity shortfall awaits Delhiites, the source says, the White Paper tries to address the power problem and proposes damage control by streamlining the DVB’s power management.

According to the Paper, the Himachal Pradesh Government and the Eastern Grid should be approached for “standby” supply of surplus power to Delhi. This is significant against the backdrop of Union Power Minister P.R.

Kumaramangalam’s comment that the Northern Grid is not fit to supply enough power to Delhi during the summer of ’99.

This is also going to be the Delhi Government’s first attempt to do away with its `complete’ dependence on the Northern Grid and look for other sources. Delhi requires over 2,500 MW of power daily for its consumption, of which, 2,000 MW comes from the Northern Grid.

Significantly, the White Paper has nothing else to suggest to cope with the coming summer. If the Northern Grid, as already predicted by Kumaramangalam, fails to provide requisite supply and the HP Government and Eastern Grid too do not chip in with extra supply, Delhiites are going to have their worst summer yet.

The White Paper comes out with some tips for the consumers. The White Paper suggests a voluntary compliance plan for bulk consumers like cinema-halls during peak hours. They should run their 6 p.m. show on generators, the White Paper suggests. There will be statutory compliance for shops and industries to close on the prescribed time.

To legitimise the radical changes that the White Paper proposes to bring, the Shiela Dikshit Government has sneaked in a line of praise for the Haryana Government and other BJP-run governments for their electricity board restructuring plans.

A three-member task-force which has been formed under Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal, will closely monitor all functional aspects of the proposed, restructured DVB.