VLDC Draws Blank, PDD groping in dark over Electricity Load

VLDC Draws Blank, PDD groping in dark over Electricity Load

Yash Khajuria
JAMMU, Aug 21: Despite the month long extension by the Power Development Department (PDD) in its much hyped Voluntary Load Disclosure Scheme (VLDS) up to August 31, the response from the consumers has remained very poor.

Sources in the department said that despite wide publicity in the print media, about 50 Mega Watts of extra load could be ascertained so far by the PDD in Jammu region, But the response so far has did not came even one fourth to the expectations.

It is pertinent to mention here that The JKPDD, in its notifications on May 16 had given an opportunity to the consumers of various categories to regularise their unauthorized load till July 9, 2012.

The PDD has once again requested the consumers to come forward and voluntarily disclose their power load with details of various ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, in its recent notification to avoid any penal action under section 95 of Jammu Kashmir Electricity Act 2010.

Also, Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) had appealed to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and to the Power Development Department to extend the deadline under VLDS, besides clarifying different queries of the consumers publicly, so that more and more consumers can avail the benefit of the scheme.

Pertinently, PDD has pleaded that in absence of the actual data of installed load, JKPDD is unable to plan and upgrade the existing transmission and distribution system to cater the actual load, this leads to more interruptions/breakdowns of power supply. Besides this, unregistered load also lead to extensive damage to distribution transformers and other network.

What could be more disgusting that the consumers across the state had shown the least concern over the soft procedure adopted by the concerned department as the Section 95 (1) of the Jammu Kashmir Electricity Act 2010 says that whoever dishonestly hooks main power lines, tampers with meters, installs or uses a tampered meter, current reversing transformer, loop connection or any other device which interferes with accurate or proper registration, calibration or metering of electric current can also face up to one month in jail.