Centre’s power snub

Ranchi, Jan. 4: The New Year could not have started on a worse note. In a bid to stop the erratic supply of power from hydel plants in the central pool, Jharkhand had asked the Centre to restore supply from thermal plants. But the Centre, it has been learnt now, has rejected the plea. Jharkhand, along with representatives of electricity boards of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, met the Union power minister on December 27 demanding restoration of its power supply from the central quota through thermal power stations. But Jharkhand State Electricty Board engineer-in-chief C.D. Kumar, who attended the meeting, disclosed the bad news only now. Since November 2007, the ministry had stopped supply from thermal power plants at Khalgoan (Bihar) and Talcher (Orissa) and started providing power from Tala hydel power plant in Bhutan. But supply from Tala has been erratic due to fluctuations in water levels. Jharkhand’s quota from Tala is about 230 MW a day. But it is getting around 60MW on an average. The situation is likely to remain unchanged till the monsoons. The new arrangement has hit Bihar and Jharkhand the hardest as these two states are dependent on the central allocation of power. During the meeting, state representatives expressed their annoyance that coal-bearing states were being deprived of assured power supply from the Centre. “Power from Khalgoan and Talcher are now being linked with northern and western grids to strengthen supply. The ministry wants to boost the power supply in Delhi ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games,” these officials alleged. The only silver lining for Jharkhand is the ministry’s assurance — it has now sent a letter to this effect — of providing 40MW of additional power to the state shortly. “We have received the ministry’s communiqué a few days back. We will start getting the additional power soon,” a board official said. Chief minister Madhu Koda and several Congress leaders had met Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde sometime back and pleaded for more power from the central pool to tide over the gloomy power scenario in the state. Year of water, land, religious wars A man rummages through the rubble in a Phulbani village. Telegraph file picture Bhubaneswar, Jan 02.: For Orissa the year was marked by a series of clashes. The year ended with communal clashes in tribal-dominated Khandhamal, beginning from Christmas. The carnage that followed claimed three lives (two died in the clashes and one in police firing). The district remains tense despite the presence of central paramilitary forces. The year also witnessed sustained agitation over land and water issues. During the early part of 2007, heavy police in the proposed Posco plant area in Jagatsinghpur, apparently to mount pressure on the anti-displacement brigade, was deployed. But, the state was forced to pull out forces due to adverse opinion. Towards the end of the year, the same area witnessed strife between anti-plant protestors and supporters in November, in which more than 15 persons were injured. However, after two years, the police and officials got the opportunity to enter the proposed plant area, which was out of bounds for them. The project still remains on shaky grounds due to resistance by the locals. In the southern district of Kalahandi, tribals carried on agitation against the alumina refinery and bauxite mining project of Vedanta Group. Their struggle received a shot in the arm with Supreme Court denying permission to the Vedanta Alumina to go ahead with the plant and project in the Niyamgiri hills. Like land, water, too, was an issue. Farmers in western Orissa raised their voice in protest against the allocation of Hirakud water to the industries. Much to the discomfiture of the government, the police forces used lathi charge on a peasant rally at Burla in Sambalpur. The agitation intensified with the backing of the Opposition parties, who stalled Assembly for nine days and held rallies supporting the cause. The government had to abruptly end the winter session, 18 days ahead of schedule, triggering a yet another controversy. In July, Orissa woke up to a shocking news of discovery of female foetuses from a private nursing home in the sleepy town of Nayagarh. Subsequent raids revealed that the illegal practice of pre-natal sex determination and female foeticide was prevalent all over the state. Smaller scandals rocked the state, too. State’s school and mass education minister Bishnu Das was embroiled with a scandal in which his son’s marksheet was found to have been fudged. Das resigned, while several senior officials of the Orissa Board of Secondary Education, were put behind bars. That wasn’t the only resignation of the state as recently, steel and mines minister Padmanabha Behera tendered his resignation in the wake of the clashes between Pano, a Dalit community and Kondh, a tribe in his home district.