Since letter, power regular at Haseef home. (Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)HIS letter to J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik saying he was not able to study because of erratic power supply saw the authorities swing into action and restore power to 10-year-old Mohammed Haseef Shah’s Srinagar locality within 24 hours. But as CBSE annual exams draw near, and temperatures hover in the minus in many parts of Kashmir, long winter power cuts are back in the state.
Dr G N Itoo, Director, School Education, Kashmir, admitted that the lack of electricity posed a serious problem, adding that the government was aware of it. “This issue has a direct impact on the academic performance of students.” He added that while studies are affected in Kashmir in summers due to unrest and frequent shutdowns, in winters, students battle power cuts.
The three months of winter are marked by erratic power outages in the Valley. At present, there are six-hour power cuts in metered areas and nine-hour cuts in non-metered areas. Around this time last year, social media had carried pictures of students giving exams with the help of candles and rechargeable lanterns in the Valley.
In his letter to Malik on January 22, Haseef, who lives in Zakura in Srinagar, wrote, “… Sir, the schedule of power as described by Power Development Department is never followed. The supply of electricity is like twinkling of stars; it is given for 10 minutes and taken for hours. We the students’ community suffers the most…”
Haseef’s father Dr Tasaduq Hussain posted the letter, which also talked about students suffering due to unavailability of electricity, on Twitter, and it soon went viral. After the letter reached the grievance cell of the government through social media, they took up the matter with the Power Department. The Hussains say power has been supplied as per schedule since.
High demand, low supply
Haseef, who studies in Class 6 at Srinagar’s prominent Tyndale Biscoe School, says he wasn’t expecting any action on the letter. Saying he and his brother, who is in Class 10, had to study using a rechargeable lantern, he adds, “I used to get angry. I would ask papa why he didn’t approach the officials. He had no answers.”
In the days since, Haseef has become a mini-star, with friends and family members calling to congratulate him. Tasaduq says on January 22, the day Haseef sent the letter, there was a protest outside their home over the electricity issue. “My son told me he wanted to write a letter. I said give a try. But I was not quite optimistic.”
Haseef says he got the idea of a letter as they had got letter-writing as an assignment from school, and when he asked his father whom he could address it to, he suggested the Governor. “My only contribution was that when he started addressing the letter, he wrote ‘Dear’. I told him that instead of dear, we address the Governor as ‘Honorable’,” Tassaduq smiles.
Chief Engineer, Power Development Department, Kashmir, Hashmat Qazi said they are helpless. “Illegal power load goes up during winters. Our legal agreement load is at present around 900 MW and we are able to supply 1250 MW. But the demand is around 2200 MW. There is around 1000 MW deficit and we have to do curtailments. In January, when temperatures fell, local power projects failed to produce the required power (as water froze in hydel plants),” he said, adding that they hoped for a respite once the snow started melting.
Qazi added that he too had been approached by students complaining about power problems. “When I get calls I always ensure power is restored immediately,” he said.
Students are also affected as most of the government schools in the state lack power connections. At the beginning of last year, the then PDP-BJP government had informed the Assembly that of the 23,773 government schools in the state, at least 17,901 were without electricity.
