A Winter Nightmare of Unscheduled Outages in IIOJK

Kashmir’s winter power crisis isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a life-threatening disaster, as residents and businesses endure frequent outages while the government fails to deliver a solution.

As winter settles over Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), it brings with it the familiar agony of prolonged and unscheduled power cuts. Once again, residents and businesses are left to contend with a fragile and unreliable electricity supply, deeply affecting daily life and economic stability.

Officials from the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) have confirmed that the region’s power demand has spiked to 2200 MW, while the supply barely meets 1500 MW. This alarming gap is most noticeable during peak evening hours when electricity demand escalates, forcing authorities to implement frequent load-shedding.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has acknowledged the looming power crisis, advising citizens to brace themselves for yet another winter of power cuts. However, this acknowledgment has done little to alleviate public frustration. Residents in metered areas, who once hoped for stable electricity, are facing even more severe disruptions.

Waseem Ahmad, a resident of Nowshera, shared his family’s distress: “Despite living in a metered area, we face frequent power cuts. My father, who suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), relies on an oxygen concentrator. These erratic outages put his life in danger.” This highlights the life-threatening consequences of power failures, especially for vulnerable individuals who rely on medical devices.

In Lal Bazar, Junaid Ahmad’s experience with solar power also speaks to the inefficiency of the system. “I installed a 7-kilowatt solar plant as part of the government’s push for sustainable energy,” he said. “But the constant power cuts render the solar plant useless. The government’s claims of promoting clean energy fall flat in the face of this crisis.”

Businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, are enduring significant financial losses due to the electricity shortfall. Aijaz Shahdhar, President of the Kashmir Trade Alliance (KTA), expressed his dismay over the ongoing crisis: “The situation is unbearable for the business sector. These outages severely disrupt operations, especially during the short daylight hours of winter.” Many businesses are already struggling financially, and these disruptions only exacerbate their woes.

Shahdhar also criticized the administration for its failure to install smart meters in unmetered areas. “Authorities unfairly blame consumers for the lack of smart meters. It’s ironic to hold the residents accountable when the administration has neglected its duties,” he said.

KPDCL’s Chief Engineer, Aaquib Sultana, explained the dire situation. “The rising electricity demand has put immense pressure on the grid. We are working on a curtailment schedule to manage the crisis,” she said. Under the proposed plan, metered areas will face up to 4.5 hours of daily power cuts, while non-metered areas, particularly those with loss-making feeders, will endure up to 6 hours of outages.

This winter, Kashmiris are not only battling the cold but also the ineptitude and neglect of a system that continues to fail them. The people of IIOJK deserve more than excuses; they deserve reliable, uninterrupted power, particularly in times of crisis.