Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Talk of priorities. Maharashtra faces a power deficit of an estimated 3,200 MW 8212; and that is the state government8217;s own estimate. Mumbai now experiences unprecedented power cuts; several cities in the state find themselves without electricity for long hours; farmers in Nasik recently stormed the offices of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board enraged over the fact that they could no longer use their pumps to save their crops. But Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh8217;s ministers are too busy hounding bar girls to do anything about it. Or is it the case that they are chasing these hapless women precisely because they wish the spotlight to shift from their own failures of governance and general incompetence?
The state government8217;s failures on the power front are a legion. For one, it has failed to anticipate and plan for the sharply rising demand for power. It has only recently got around to signing some deals with private firms for building power plants. It has failed to prevent power thefts. The Democratic Front government had once promised to reduce theft from the current levels of 39 per cent by 3 per cent a year, yet it has only managed a reduction of less than one per cent so far. It has failed to get the Dabhol power plant 8212; which would have gone a long way in solving the present crisis 8212; back on the rails. It has failed to corporatise the Maharashtra State Electricity Board MSEB, which has always been at the heart of the issue. Its inability to address these issues in a cogent manner has resulted in the present crisis, where planned outages in rural Maharashtra are now nine hours in duration and where the pressure caused by angry public responses to such loadshedding has forced the MSEB to now seriously consider rationing power to Mumbai.
