Were it not for the farmers at the receiving end, the current power crisis in the state would be appropriate commentary on the failure of the Digvijay regime. The crisis has everything to do with populism and maladministration, it has been brought on in large measure by the decision to announce free power for all farmers owning pumps of 5 HP and less, and has little to do with lack of a power.As a consequence, according to rough estimates, as many as 5 per cent of the farmers in the state are going without any power at all at a time when it is absolutely vital to irrigate the crop.The crisis at the moment is a result of large-scale failure of power transformers in the state, and a failure by the MP electricity board to replace them in time. It is a problem the Chief Minister is well aware of, and as has been reported earlier, he has preferred to blame it on sabotage by BJP workers. The truth is somewhat different.The decision to grant free power meant that almost every pump in the state has been connected to the grid by farmers no longer constrained by finances, increasing the load on each transformer as compared to previous years. Moreover, with efforts aimed at ensuring there would be no power shortage in the state, almost the entire resources of the board, already short on cash because of the state government’s delay in paying for previous subsidies, have been diverted to purchase power, leaving a shortage of funds to buy new transformers as the problem has peaked.The figures speak for themselves. Power in the state is supplied to consumers in the state by three power companies, one in Indore, one in Jabalpur and one in Bhopal. The figures from Indore, roughly catering to a third of the state, clearly indicate the extent of the problem. As of November 19, 8,046 of the failed 9,029 transformers had been replaced. In other words, 983 failed transformers are yet to be replaced. In comparison, at the same time last year, 8,052 of the 8,136 transformers that had failed were repaired, or at the same time last year, there were only a mere 84 failed transformers that had not been replaced.Thus the figure has gone up a staggering ten-fold this year, and the same estimates have been reported from the two other companies in the state. Villages being supplied through these transformers are receiving no power at all. And even where transformers are being replaced, it is taking almost ten days as against the three days promised by the government. Officials indicate that the larger number of failed transformers is due to an increase in the load over previous years.In the Indore division, while the maximum demand in November at any time was 1,779 MW, this year it has gone up to 2,053 MW. Board officials attribute this entire increase in demand to the increased number of pumps in operation. According to their estimates, once the government announced the decision to grant free power this year, since suspended by the Election Commission, the numbers of pumps connected to the grid reached close to 10 lakhs, almost twice the figure for last year.With the increased load leading to higher rates of failures of transformers, the only way out was either to increase the rate of repair, or to purchase new transformers. In the Indore division, while the number of repaired transformers is much higher than last year, the arrival of new transformers is much lower. While last year, by this time, 1,273 new transformers were made available to the Indore company by the board, this year only 90 new transformers have been supplied.This failure to buy more transformers in time is being blamed on a shortage of funds. With almost the entire resources of the board committed to buying power from outside the state to meet the anticipated increase in demand, the board was short on funds for other purposes. So even as there is a power supply, failed transformers mean that power canot reach the farmers. Sources indicate that if the state government had paid the subsidy due to the board on time, much of the current crisis could have been averted. But for those on the receiving end—farmers unable to sow their crop—such considerations are meaningless and their ire is more than likely to be expressed at the time of voting.
