Northern states ask for more power

The poor monsoon rainfall in northern India has pushed up the demand for power in the agriculturally key regions of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. The three states produce a little over 25 per cent of the country's rice and are also big producers of pulses.

Till date, Punjab and Haryana have demanded 1,000 Mw of additional power from the unallocated quantity in the central grid, of which the central government has allocated around 300 Mw. In UP, the Centre has allocated 300 Mw of additional power, too. The Centre has said it can’t allot more than this 300 Mw each to the three, since it is 75 per cent of the total unallocated power in the central pool.

Almost 80 per cent of arable land in Punjab, Haryana and west UP is irrigated, using both canal and ground water. However, this year’s deficient rain have dried the reservoirs, forcing farmers to rely entirely on ground water to irrigate their fields. Which means their pumpsets have to work for far longer. “In normal times an average Punjab farmer needs power for six to seven hours in a day during the peak paddy sowing months of June and July. This year, the demand has gone up to 10-14 hours, as canal water is not sufficient,” a senior government official said.

The levels in major reservoirs across Punjab are an average of 37 per cent below normal. In Himachal Pradesh, it is 53 per cent below normal. Water in the Bhakra dam (in Himachal Pradesh, part of the undivided Punjab) is considered the lifeline for agriculture in Punjab; it was at 26 per cent of the Full Reservoir Level on July 29, around 54 percentage points less than at the same period last year and 45 percentage points less than the 10-year average level.

In Punjab, till yesterday, the southwest monsoon had been 68 per cent below normal; in Haryana, 71 per cent below normal. In western UP, rainfall was 40 per cent below normal in June and July.