NAGPUR, SEPT 25: Industrialists of the region have blasted the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) for singling out Vidarbha for the massive power cut that has paralysed industries and is causing immense suffering to the people in general.A joint meeting of the members of Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA), Vidarbha Steel Re-rollers Association, Steel and Hardware Chamber of Vidarbha and Nagpur Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce was organised on Saturday at Udyog Bhavan here to discuss the power crisis in the region.Speaking on the occasion, president of VIA Mohan Agrawal said it is most unfair that an unwarranted power cut has only been imposed on Vidarbha while the industrial estates of Aurangabad, Nashik and Pimpri Chinchwad have been spared. The step-motherly treatment would not be tolerated by industrialists and people of the region, he warned.Agrawal called upon the industrial community to unitedly fight the injustice meted out to it by MSEB. While 67 per cent of power in the State is generated in Vidarbha which consumes only 22 per cent of it and the balance is supplied to other parts of the State thereby causing transmission and distribution losses. Since Vidarbha is at the generating head of thermal power stations, the transmission and distribution losses are minimal here and as such the need of Vidarbha should be fully met before supplying the power to other places, Agrawal said.Condemning the load-shedding in Vidarbha, Agrawal forcefully appealed to the government to roll back the decision and resume full and continuous power supply to the industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. Last year, when Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had addressed members of the VIA, he announced there is surplus of power in the State and on that ground the government did not allow industries to have captive power plants.Since in the last one year there has been no significant industrial growth in Maharashtra it is difficult to understand what prompted the massive load shedding. Moreover, the industrialists, trading community and the consumers were not taken into confidence before resorting to power cut, Agrawal regretted.Because of the load shedding, the continuous processing industries, plastic industries, foundries, re-rolling mills, ferro alloys, textile and chemical plants and similar other industries have been seriously affected. It is a well-known fact that industrial units are already suffering from huge losses because of recession and excessive sudden load shedding has worsened the situation. The quantum of losses have increased so much that many industries are going to be closed down in near future if the power supply position does not improve soon, he said.Since MSEB has now affirmed that there is a shortfall in power generation in the State, it has no right to levy Contract Demand charges. Rather, the MSEB can be legally challenged for breach of terms of the contract, warned Agrawal.The VIA chief alleged that the MSEB has no accountability at all. One of the two transformers at the Hingna sub-station is out of order for the last two months. No repair has been done and the load is presently borne by the transformer of 25 MVA. If this transformer collapses, the fate of power supply could well be imagined, he said adding that the MSEB has sadly no fund for the maintenance work.Agrawal demanded permission for the Vidarbha industrialists to have captive power generation. This will sort out the problem of power generation if there is a real crisis, said Agrawal.K K Bagadia, vice president, Vidarbha re-rollers Association, Radheyshyam Sarda and Murlidhar Surjan, president of Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce, also addressed the gathering.
