Delhi power crisis: City govt urges Centre to ensure coal backup
Premium- Today there are many plants in the country that do not have a backup of coal even for a day, Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain
Owing to the severe power crisis in Delhi, Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday asked the Centre to ensure the availability of coal, and repair train tracks for smooth transportation. He further stressed that the power plants in Delhi cannot function with the coal backup of one day.
Noting that the country is facing a severe power crisis due to a lack of coal availability, he said at a conference, “In normal circumstances, (for smooth supply of energy) coal should be available with the power generating plants as a backup for 21 days. However, today there are many plants in the country that do not have a backup of coal even for a day."
Adding further, he said that the current peak for power demand in Delhi is 6,000 MW.
Regarding power supply at the hospitals, he said, "We will look at how and where to adjust it, but I would urge the government to get these tracks fixed so that the coal can be transported easily, which is a better solution".
"There is no payment pending from the Delhi government. It can be possible that the states- Haryana and Uttar Pradesh- have not made their payments," he added.
He also mentioned that instead of an increase in the number of train tracks, it has significantly reduced upto 10 per cent. "Earlier there were 450 train racks but now it is 405," he said.
During the conference, he also hinted at the problems Delhi might have to face if power plants shut down due to a lack of coal availability.