Power crisis

Industrial production in Uttarakhand has been badly hit by an acute power shortage, with the steel industry facing the brunt of the supply outages. The 60-odd steel units in the state claimed that they are facing a production loss of Rs 30 crore every day due to the power cuts effected by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the sole distribution agency in the hill state.

The owners of the steel industry have met top government officials and submitted a memorandum demanding more power to the industrial units. In the memorandum, D K Agarwal, the President of the steel chapter of the Kumaon-Garhwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI), said the steel industry, which takes only 16.5 percent of the HT load, is getting only 8 hours of supply per day whereas other HT industries are getting 16 hours of power. "You will kindly appreciate that the steel industry is catering to the infrastructure needs of the country. Our industry is supplying goods to sectors like power, the Delhi metro, automobile, sugar, paper and others. Hence, we must get sufficient power to run our industries, otherwise these units will close down if the trend continues," said Agarwal. Uttarakhand, which is considered as a power surplus state, has been facing an average power deficit of 86mu in this season, while Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have been facing acute power shortage which has led to daily power cut of over 10 hours in each state, a study has said. Of the total 8,980 million unit (mu) power deficit in the country, Maharashtra and UP have been facing deficit of 2,609 mu and 1,351mu, respectively, in this summer, Assocham secretary general DS Rawat said in a statement. The average power demand in Maharashtra is estimated at 12,132mu against the availability of 9,523mu, it said.

In UP, huge difference between power demand and supply has led to power cuts of over 10 hours a day, the study said, and pointed out that the situation in the Southern region-- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry -- is no better, with Andhra facing shortage of The study further said the Northern states like Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi face power deficit of 1mu, 4mu and 19mu, respectively. The survey, however said, Jammu & Kashmir is the only state which faces zero power deficit. The chamber has recommended acceleration in power generation along with harnessing non-conventional energy resources including wind, solar and tidal.

Fair & Ugly:

104 days of Kumbh have left a trail of garbage and stink, reports P.S. Chauhan:

Though on April 28, the Maha Kumbh has come to an end but the mega event has left tonnes of stinking filth and garbage behind it, which will take weeks to get disposed. And now it is a tough task to dispose this trash and to restore city's hale. Indeed, sanitation mess needs to be cleared at the earliest. The condition was not that bad when Kumbh started but as the event came to an end it has worsened. Though devotees have been flocking ever since Kumbh started in January but these hordes of pilgrims were manageable and it wasn't a Herculean task to maintain healthy hygiene conditions and concerned authorities did not face any challenge. But the last two months of the Kumbh saw a surge in the number of devotees and sanitation conditions started to worsen. Stats say that nearly eight crore devotees congregated in the city during the mega fair. Beside huge discharge of human excreta, a large quantity of polythene and plastic items brought by the pilgrims and an equally large amount of organic and inorganic waste of crockery and other items that were used in thousands of tents, ashrams and akharas for bhandaras and mass feasting, has brought sanitation on the brink of collapse. The disposal of the bio-medical waste of the temporary mela hospitals and the inorganic waste of polythene and plastics, which has got mixed with the organic waste, is posing a big threat as well. The health officer of the city, Dr. Anil Tyagi admits that during the snans nearly 5-6 thousand tonnes of garbage has piled up in Kumbh area.

Heaps of filth and garbage have become a common sight in Shankaracharya Nagar, Mahamandleshwar Nagar and Gaur Shankar Dweep. The worst hit are Bairagi camp and Daksh Dweep, where sanitation conditions have virtually collapsed. Here roads have turned into pools of mud and dirty water, providing a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. The temporary toilets made in the Kumbh area have got choked and the sewer pits are overflowing.

The entire Kumbh mela area is stinking and it is difficult to pass through without covering one's face. Forget mela area even at Brahmpuri, Saptsarover, Bhopatwala, Laljiwala, Balawala, Satighat, Rajghat, Kadachh Mohalla the condition is no different. The state urban development minister and the minister in-charge of the Kumbh, Madan Kaushik visited several areas in the city and instructed the health officials to expedite their work. If the filth is not cleaned soon then danger of breaking out of an epidemic looms large. Hundreds of patients of diarrhea are being admitted every day in the hospitals. Brijendra Harsh, who is associated with the Prakhar Mission Hospital Services, a voluntary organisation, says that 90 per cent of these patients are suffering from cholera or diarrhea. Dr. Anil Tyagi says that the city will soon be rid of filth. The Kumbh mela health officer, Dr. S.P. Agarwal says that more than 9,000 sanitary workers with 36 trolleys are working in three shifts to clear the heaps of filth and garbage which is being dumped in the trenching grounds at Kangri and near the Jatwara bridge at Jwalapur. The Kumbh mela officer, Anand Vardhan himself inspected the Mahamandleshwar Nagar and the adjoining areas and issued strict instrucitons to the officials of the health department to clear the entire mela area of garbage at the earliest.