Click to play videoNew Delhi: Just days before Diwali, the country is dangerously close to a big power crisis with many areas already seeing hours of load shedding.
The government on Friday promised an improvement within five days.
However, in West Bengal, the Kolaghat Power Plant is left with only 20 hours of electricity while the Bakreshwar plant is left with just one day of power.
In New Delhi, the Rajghat plant may stop producing electricity in the next 24 hours.
The situation is same in Andhra's Singareni mines.
This is quite an unprecedented and precarious power situation in the country. The power plants are on the blink, the reason being that India is running low on coal.
However, Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has claimed that it will not be a dark Diwali.
"We have instructed all companies to transfer coal from one to another wherever there is a possibility of having stock for two or three days. Diwali will be celebrated with good light," said Shinde.
The state owned Coal India Ltd, which produces 85 per cent of India's coal, says it will ramp up supplies to avert a blackout.
"There has been some shortfall because of the heavy rainfall but we have been assured that we will be able to meet the annual target of production," said Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.
The largest power producer NTPC said the situation had improved. It also said that power generation had picked up as coal supply was improving.
However, the question remains why coal reserves were not maintained and how suddenly everyone is pressing the panic button.
Power situation in India is getting grimmer because of coal shortage that is only increasing every year. The demand for coal is increasing by 7 per cent annually but coal production only by 2.2 per cent. It is high time the government worked at exploring new ways of power generation.
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