Power situation to ease, courtesy Assembly polls

The power crisis that has hit Karnataka is expected to ease in the coming days with the Centre announcing the restoration of 100 Mw of the state's share that had been diverted from the Central grid to Tamil Nadu.

The announcement not only improves the power supply situation in the state, but also pre-empts a backlash against the Congress in the run-up to the Karnataka assembly elections scheduled to be held in the third week of May.

Briefing reporters on the Centre's decision, Governor Rameshwar Thakur said: "Union minister for power Sushil Kumar Shinde has agreed to our request to restore the state's quota from the Central grid. This would help us tackle the power situation in the state effectively."

The Centre had, a few months ago, reduced Karnataka's share from the `unallocated' share of the Central grid by 150 Mw and had diverted the same to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which is politically strong in the Congress-led UPA alliance.

Unallocated share is a special quota of power that is given from the central generating stations to the states depending upon the latter's power requirements.

The Centre's decision to divert power only worsened the power situation in the state. With power shortage in the state pegged around 600 Mw, a worried Karnataka reacted by taking up the issue with the Centre. After much coaxing, the Union power ministry responded by restoring 50 Mw to the state.

"But we had sought a complete restoration," said Bharatlal Meena, managing director of Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. The unallocated share has become crucial for the state as there has been no major capacity-addition activity that has taken place in the last few years.

In the meantime, the diversion to Tamil Nadu snowballed into a controversy with the BJP and the JD(S) mounting an attack on the Congress alleging step-motherly attitude towards the state on the power front. The BJP leaders staged a demonstration in New Delhi recently highlighting the woes of the farming community and the industry due to power-shortage.

The JD(S) tried to take advantage of the situation by slamming the Congress for diverting the state's share at a time when students are preparing for their final examinations.

But the pressure on the Congress to restore power actually peaked when the Election Commission dropped enough hints to conduct assembly elections before the end of the President's Rule on May 28. Not wanting the power-diversion to be made an issue against it by rival political parties, the Congress apparently chose to restore the 100 Mw to the state.