Govt taking initiatives to ensure 24x7 power supply: J&K Dy CM

Jammu: Jammy and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has said the government has introduced several initiatives for upgrading the power sector which would have a long-time impact on power generation and distribution so that the consumers get 24x7 power supply and 100 per cent electrification.

"We have also undertaken several programmes in the housing and urban development sector which would be instrumental in ensuring that the people of the state get quality facilities of modern urban living, these would also ensure that the state comes up as one of the model states in the country," he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister was replying to the discussion on the demands of grants for PDD, Housing and Urban Development departments in the state Assembly here yesterday.

Singh said in order to reduce AT&C losses, strengthen the sub-transmission distribution network and electrification of un-electrified household schemes like RAPDRP, IPDS, DDUGJY & RGGVY Phase-II and Prime Minister's Development Package (PMDP) have been undertaken.

Under PMDP, thrust is on electricity generation through small hydro electric projects and Rs 4,153 crore has been received for Pakal Dul-state equity and other projects, he said.

Similarly, an amount of Rs 1,263.9 crore has been earmarked to ensure the transmission system of the state gets augmented and Kashmir-Ladakh Transmission Line work is also in progress, he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said under PMDP an amount of Rs 220 crore has been earmarked for improving power infrastructure at tourist destinations, Rs 1,039 crore for augmentation of distribution infrastructure, Rs 116 crore for improving distribution network for four industrial estates, Rs 900 crore for capital cities and an amount of Rs 105 crore for small grids and smart metering.

Singh said in order to clear liabilities in the power sector, the government has with active collaboration of Centre implemented UDAY scheme under which Rs 3,537.55 crore loan and Rs 3,500 crore bonds are in pipeline, which would ensure that liabilities would be cleared by 2017-18.

He said the government is also working on opening Letter of Credit (LoC) with J&K Bank for timely payment of the interest which would also a help save of Rs 150 crore per annum.

"PDD has also finalised a fast-track metering plan for 100 per cent consumer metering in next 18 months including smart metering for high-ended domestic, commercial & industrial consumers which will be rolled out soon with estimated cost of Rs 550 crore. All these measures will reduce the AT&C losses to 15 per cent by FY 2019-20," Singh said.

He said to check power theft special enforcement squads have been constituted at different levels. He said 35,432 inspections have been conducted and Rs 458.56 lakh fine imposed.

The Deputy Chief Minister said Amnesty scheme announced in August 2015 for domestic consumers includes 100 per cent surcharge waiver and it was extended up to December 2016.

Under the scheme, 53,504 consumers availed benefit and an amount of Rs 35.82 crore surcharge was waived off, he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said in order to strengthen and augment HT/LT network an amount of Rs 87 crore has been released for every constituency.

The Deputy Chief Minister said an amount of Rs 444.50 crore has been sanctioned under integrated power development scheme for 86 towns which are not covered under RAPDRP.

He said the works have been tendered and are proposed to be executed during the Financial Year 2017-18 and Power Finance Corporation has been designated as Nodal Agency.

The Deputy Chief Minister said under Prime Minister's Development Programme an amount of Rs 1144.59 crore has been sanctioned with an objective of covering the left out works of RAPDRP.

He said an amount of Rs 619.67 crore has been sanctioned for 21 districts under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY).

Similarly an amount of Rs 2,570.14 crore has been sanctioned under PMDP for strengthening distribution network in rural areas to cover the left out works of DDUGJY.

The Deputy Chief Minister said in order to ensure ex-gratia relief to the departmental and non-departmental employees killed or grievously incapacitated due to electrocution incidents, the government would be granting an ex-gratia relief of Rs 3 lakh in case of death, Rs 1 lakh for total disability and Rs 30,000 for partial disability.

He said a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary has been constituted to frame an appropriate policy for undertaking regularisation of casual and need-based workers.

While referring to the un-scheduled power cuts, Singh said there is a huge gap of 582 MW between the peak demand and peak availability which is also due to the fact that only 16 lakh consumers are registered with PDD whereas 28 lakh are registered with the CA&PD department.

On the smart city initiatives undertaken by the government, he said 2nd draft of Smart City Proposals (SCPs) in respect of both the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar have

been prepared and is under improvement in consultation with stakeholders and  will be submitted to the Ministry of Urban Development in February 2017.

The Deputy Chief Minister said five cities -Jammu, Srinagar, Anantnag, Leh & Kargil - have been selected for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation for revamping drainage management, improvement of water supply, urban transport system etc and total allocation under it is Rs 593.05 crore for years 2015-2020.

"Contracts amounting to Rs 120 crore have been awarded against 12 projects and funds to the tune of Rs 27 crore have been released in favour of implementing agencies for execution of these works," he said.

On the Swacch Bharat Mission, the Deputy Chief Minister said the estimated cost of the mission for the state is Rs 620.68 crore which would be used for construction of individual household, community and public toilets, solid waste management etc.

He said, "We contemplate to construct 94,091 individual household toilets, 2,078 community toilets and ensuring Open Defecation Free (ODF) towns and cities.”

He said steps are being taken to get 21 towns in the state declared as ODF by March. Four AMRUT cities - Jammu, Srinagar, Anantnag & Kargil - have also been proposed to be declared ODF whereas 36 wards have been declared as ODF by JMC and Leh town has also been declared as ODF in 2016. 19 clusters have been formed for the scientific disposal of solid waste covering all the urban towns and the two capital cities of the state, the Deputy Chief Minister, said, adding land has been identified for all the clusters except Banihal cluster and DPRs have been prepared for 16 of them at an estimated cost of Rs 419.54 crore.