“Why can’t you complete the works in time?”
“Sorry! No power supply”
“Why can’t you send me the goods as per the order?”
“Sorry! No electricity”
“Why are you late?”
“Sorry! No current”
These conversations are commonly heard and show that there is no value for human time in India. How many works are postponed, how many duties are neglected, how many responsibilities could not be accomplished and how many promises could not be kept due to this power problem?
India is in serious power shortage problem and the problem is acute in Tamil Nadu. Though various reasons are said for them, the real problem is the lack of foresight of our greedy politicians who have their eyes only on the vote bank. There is a great difference between demand and supply and unless some immediate measures are taken, time is not far when the entire nation will go into darkness most of the time.
As per the year 2009-10, the average national per capita power consumption was 778.71 kWh. The average consumption of Tamil Nadu in 2009-10 was 1131.58. In a period of four years, there is 8% increase in power consumption in Tamil Nadu. This shows that the electricity board is not grown in its power generation capacity even 8%. Where does the mistake lie here?
In 1957, the total power generating capacity of TNEB was 356 MW and the total consumers were 4,30,000 in number. The per capita power consumption at that time was 21 units. But in 2012, the per capita power consumption is 1040 units with 2,31,37,000 consumers. The increased usage of electrical gadgets is the main reason coupled with the all round development, industrial as well as financial. The global warming has necessitated the usage of air-conditioners and refrigerators and these items have turned out to be an important household necessity rather than luxury products these days.
When Tamil Nadu requires 13,000 MW of electricity, only 10,364 MW could be generated with all the power plants here. The existing power plants are not suited for the ever increasing demands and Tamil Nadu should follow Gujarat in implementing the solar schemes for power generation. But the saddest part is that there is no proper encouragement from the government for these initiatives.
In India Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu are the top power consumers and their consumption is more than ten times of the national average. The reason for that is that more number of industries located here with less residential population. Apart from them, the top five consumers are given below.
Top 5 Per Capita Power Consuming States In India as per 2009-10
State |
Per Capita Power Consumption in kWh |
Goa |
2263.63 |
Puducherry |
1743.37 |
Delhi |
1651.26 |
Gujarat |
1615.24 |
Chattisgarh |
1546.94 |
Lowest 5 Per Capita Power Consuming States in India as per 2009-10
State |
Per Capita Power Consumption in kWh |
Bihar |
122.11 |
Assam |
204.80 |
Nagaland |
218.03 |
Manipur |
240.22 |
Tripura |
335.47 |
Tamil Nadu is the 9th highest per capita power consumer in India. In Kerala it is 525 kWh and in Uttar Pradesh it is just 348.37 kWh. Sixteen states and union territories including the seven north eastern states have their per capita power consumption less than the national average of 778.71 kWh.
Now let us see the top ten countries in the world in its per capita consumption in kWh. The list is taken from IEA website and is as per the year 2008.
Country | Consumption |
Canada |
17053 |
USA |
13647 |
Australia |
11174 |
Japan |
8072 |
France |
7703 |
Germany |
7148 |
Korea |
8853 |
UK |
6067 |
Russia |
6443 |
Italy |
5656 |
India with its 778.71 kWh can’t even stand near these global powers. We say India is a developing country and will become a super power in future. How is this possible without making proper future plans? How are we going to compete with these developed nations when our basic needs like electricity is itself at stake?
Article Source :
http://www.veethi.com/articles/repeated-power-cuts---an-analysis-article-974.htm
Keywords :
Tamil Nadu power crisis
,
power problem in India
,
power generation
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top power consumers
,
least power consumers