Mumbaikars bracing for a tough summer

Mumbai, Apr 2 (UNI) With the Tata and Reliance still locked up in deliberations with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) over load shedding and tariff issues, Mumbaikars have already begun to bear the brunt of rising mercury this summer.

The latest round of marathon deliberations between the private players Tata and Reliance Energy and various other power entities with MSEB to sort out the power crisis in the state are still on and therefore the issue remained inconclusive.

According to the Meteological Centre, the skies were partly clouded today with a maximum temperature of 34 degree celsius as compared to the 25 and 24 degree celsius of minimum temperature recorded in Colaba and Santacruz in the early hours.

''It is premature and speculative to say that the climate is changing. Such conclusions can only be made after proper research and studies,'' Ms Sathi Devi, Director of Meteological Centre, Mumbai told UNI.

She said that international studies are being conducted on the subject of global warming. In that pretext, ''We cannot conclude that the sudden increase in humdity or heat is associated with global warming,'' added the Director.

Elaborating, Ms Sathi Devi said sometimes the normal change of winds also results into sudden rise or fall in the levels of mercury. Summers have just begun, so any conclusion on the basis of temperorary climatic behaviour is purely wrong and premature, she asserted.

The other major issue aggravating the power crisis in the state is the magnitude of power theft, which if reduced by 10 per cent, can decrease the peak hour deficit of power to 3,045 MW. Maharashtra being a successful industrial belt in the country, it ranks fourth after Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in the list of power deficit states. It has an energy deficit of 11.6 per cent and the peak deficit has touched a high of 20 per cent resulting in a shortfall of about 3,000 MW.

The MSEB has entered into agreements with various power firms such as the Tatas, Adani Exports, Power Trading Corporation and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and its subsidiaries.

These entities for the time being have agreed to provide power to the MSEB to tackle the worst ever power crisis in the State.

Even after a decade of power sector reforms, there is an ever increasing demand of power by 350 MW annually and the supply available is 11,777 MW.

With the onset of summer, the demand has risen to an all-time high of 14,822 MW, resulting into a shortfall of 3,045 MW. If the incumbent government fails to take corrective measures immediately, the deficit is expected to increase by 10,000 MW in the next five years.

UNI