Is anybody listening?
As Kashmir continues to be in the grip of freezing cold, the power supply has already come down drastically. This is nothing new. This has been happening in the past and this is happening this time round too. The administrations, that be, have failed Kashmiris during winters and the present dispensation is yet to prove that it is going to be different. Though, this time round, Power Distribution Corporation had made tall claims of having the ‘lowest power curtailment schedule in a decade’, nothing of the sort is visible on the ground. Most of the areas, metered as well as non-metered, are facing unscheduled and scheduled power cuts and the PDC claims have become a butt of joke. The power scenario in rural areas is pathetic. Reports pouring from different villages suggest that people there are groping in darkness getting electric supply hard for 8 to 10 hours in 24 hours, that too with lowest voltage.
During winters, the power supply becomes the first casualty. The administrations, that be, have miserably failed to improve the network of transmission lines. A little bit of snow and electric poles break down. The power generation comes down drastically making people to suffer. While Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha’s administration has made tall claims about winter preparedness, it is to be seen whether these claims hold. One would expect that the present Lt Governor’s administration would have learnt some lessons from the failures of previous regimes in tackling with winters. If it has learnt, one would expect it to be prepared enough to tackle the winter moths effectively. This is the first winter for Lt Governor Sinha. People are watching keenly how his administration deals with the weather vagaries. Following abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, New Delhi had promised moon and stars to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, last year’s winter negated these claims as people were made to grope in darkness in absence of electric power. Let the present dispensation do something different and convey to the masses that ‘yes, it cares.’
