HC calls for fixing responsibility for this delay
Srinagar: The J&K High Court has ordered fixing of responsibility as to why vital equipment that was necessary to supply power to it during the power outages was under maintenance for two long months.
Aggrieved of a complete power breakdown in the High Court on Monday, February 19, Justices Atul Sreedharan and Moksha K Kazmi had asked the Chief Secretary to provide it with a dedicated power line and as a backup arrange for a generator supply as can support its entire gadgetry.
Pursuant to the order the court on Wednesday had a meeting with the Chief Engineer PW (R&B) Department, Sajad Ahmad Naqeeb. In the course of the meeting, it was revealed that the reason why there was a total black-out in the High Court premises was on account of the abrupt break-down of 250 KVA generator due to overloading as the other generator (320 KVA) was still undergoing maintenance for almost two months.
The bench expressed its concern that the period of maintenance was excessively long. It directed “responsibility must be affixed within the organization as to why a vital equipment that was necessary to supply power to the High Court during the power-cut was under maintenance for two long months”.
The Chief Engineer meanwhile assured the judges that he will look into the matter. He also promised to “ensure that the High Court shall never have power cuts of this duration ever again, and that if need be, the department would hire a 320 KVA generator as a standby to ensure seamless power during power-cuts to the High Court”.
After a word by the officer “we are satisfied that no further action needs to be taken in this case. The issue can be given a quietus,” the division bench said.
The officer also suggested “a power audit of the High Court be carried out by the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL)”.
The court observed, “We have already instructed the Registrar Judicial of this court to address the issue by sending a letter to the power generation company forthwith”. It must be ensured that “the power audit of the High Court premises is done and that the total requirement of the High Court be calculated. It should be communicated to the PWD to ensure such incidents (power cut) do not happen in future,” it said.
It is mentionable that Kashmir Valley is in the grip of a severely deficient power supply and undue and unscheduled power-cuts are fairly common here.
KPDCL’s consumer base in the domestic, commercial and industrial categories have been suffering because of an extremely poor power supply. This is despite the reports of the majority of consumers religiously paying for the consistently increased electricity tariffs!
