Hyderabad, August 21: Criticising the inept handling of the power crisis, YSRC has demanded the Congress Government to declare electricity emergency and take up the issue on priority basis to provide some succor to the power-starved state.
“The leaders are busy lobbying in Delhi to safeguard their own interests instead of solving the power crisis. Though alarm bells started ringing six months back, there was no proper action from the government as the cabinet and leaders were busy otherwise,” party spokesperson Vasireddy Padma told reporters here on Tuesday.
The State should at least now take correctional measures, which include convening an all-party meet and declaring electricity emergency to jack up the issue on the priority list which will help industrial and agriculture sectors in a big way, she said.
For the past six months all sectors have been affected due to power scarcity and unlike the YSR governance the present government failed to check and bring the situation under control and now it has snowballed into a major crisis, she said.
According to an estimate, nearly 1.60 lakh industrial units were shut down as the State could not supply the minimum 500 MW against the required 1,500 MW of power. The power scarcity has hit production badly and has forced many small industries to close down rendering many jobless, she said.
During the past two months the industrial production was down to 40 per cent and the slide will continue if no proper steps are taken up the State, she said.
The unprecedented power crisis is affecting all sectors including agriculture, industrial and domestic sectors as the official power cut is around 12 to 14 hours in rural areas, 5 hours in towns and 3 hours in major cities, she said.
While the State is reeling under acute power crisis, the leaders are off to Delhi to settle their disputes and are lobbying for personal gains giving scant respect to the people’s problems, she said.
A similar crisis was seen during YSR regime and he had handled it with maturity by getting power from other sources. He never hiked the power charges and kept his poll promise, but the successive governments had not only increased the electricity charges but also are collecting arrears, she said.
“At least now, the State should give a serious thought to narrow down the demand and supply gap by taking effective steps. An all-party meeting and declaring electricity emergency are the two measures which the State should immediately take up,” she said.
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