Launching an attack on Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana for purchasing of more power than required, Congress legislator Karan Singh Dalal on Wednesday alleged nexus between top Haryana officials and power supplying private companies and sought a probe by an independent agency.
While addressing a Press conference, Dalal said that the total need of power in the state varied from 3,500 megawatt (MW0 to 9,800 MW as per the information sought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, while the Haryana government was buying 11,086.3 MW power from various sources including private parties against the peak power demand of 9,800 MW.
Raising questions over the extra purchase of 1,286 MW that remained allegedly unexplained, he said, “When requirement is less, then why the government is purchasing more electricity. It appears that the government is hand in gloves with the private companies who are selling power to the state through the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Dakshin Haryana BijliVitran Nigam (DHBVN) at exorbitant rates at a time when power is not required. The government is buying power from private companies at excessive rates and the burden of power purchase is being borne by the consumers.”
Former minister Dalal said that the extra purchase of power by the government and the supply thereof at exorbitant rates was a scam worth “Few Hundred Crore” which needs to be looked into by an independent agency.
Dalal also alleged that the state government had already closed three thermal power stations and on the other hand, power is being purchased increasingly from private corporations.
He said, “In spite of purchasing more power than required, cities and villages continue to face huge power cuts and as a result the supply of drinking water remains always affected. Besides this, industrial output remains severely affected on account of shortage of power. On the other hand, the price of unit continues to increase. Ironically, no steps have been taken by the present government to develop an effective price control mechanism for keeping the electricity prices under control.”
“During the Congress regime, there used to be three slab system and benefits of less consumption of power used to be given to the electricity consumers who exceeded that slab system, but now consumers have to pay more in case of exceeding the consumption of more than 800 units per month,” he said.