Dr Asangba Tzüdir
In a function commemorating 50 years of service of Nagaland power department in 2014, the Nagaland Chief Minister spoke about formulating a comprehensive power policy where he pointed out the “need for a coordinated approach to augment and improve generation, transmission and distribution of power.” To this end, the government funding to the power department was 7 crore in 2015-2016 which increased marginally to Rs 12 crore for 2016-2017 and this makes up for just 5% against the requirement of Rs 265 crore. The Association of Power engineers Nagaland have expressed disappointment at the deficit fund allocation with the apprehension of major breakdowns without any capacity addition. The reality is being witnessed today and with no ‘back-up’ in every sense of the term, of capital and infrastructure, our State will soon witness the worst.
Beyond repairs at a struggling pace, there is also the growing demand for electricity every year and with no equipment up-gradation, the state has been a witness to a series of transformer breakdowns owing to aging and overloading. How long can the department go on repairing the transformers against an increasing number of transformer breakdowns? What warranty does it hold regarding the durability of the ‘repaired’ transformers? Within the constraints of fund allocation, the department is also in a ‘helpless’ position doing best to repair the transformers, and that too is being done by outsourcing it to private parties for quicker service delivery. But, the present approach is like putting make-up on an old woman, which is just a temporal measure that has no guarantee.
This paper has, through a series of reports, minutely highlighted the woeful tale of our power sector and its impending danger, but the sad reality is that, nothing has been done and the people have become frequent witnesses to the transformer breakdowns – a potential danger that is going to turn into a catastrophe; and going by the apathetic response of the government, ironically, it seems like the Government wants to witness the looming catastrophe in waiting for the ultimate – a total ‘systems failure.’
Today, Nagaland needs not just a comprehensive power policy on paper but one that is practical in its approach in order to address the problems related to the core issues of power generation, transmission and distribution in tune with the demands of the times. An assessment of the present crisis and a possible way out also needs to be worked out in detail beyond temporal measures. There is also need for better management of all forms of resources in tune with potentiality and capacity. Measures that are more stringent also need to be adopted to generate the desired revenue. The government should also instil a sense of ownership, to have care and concern for government properties towards a responsible change. (Government properties’ getting ‘privatised’ is also a major concern).
With rapid urbanization and expansion of township, but nonetheless, the demand for power will only increase. It has also brought in a shift in the culture of work for livelihood from agriculture to other means. This shift also reinforces the challenges to the industry sector in generating economy and employment; and if industry is to grow adequate power supply is a necessity.
Having ‘submitted’ the concerns in writing is not the end of the solution. The present government and the way it ‘functions’ in a ‘non-functional’ manner only makes one wonder in distress finding it difficult to ponder upon the predicament that makes it difficult to prick the consciousness which is a necessary condition to affect the desired praxis. Maybe it is beyond our limited human capacity or the present condition itself has so limited our capacity in order to either re-work or restart afresh to change the present ‘Naga condition.’ For now, the breakdown of transformers is a tragic reminder that a total systems shutdown is looming large.
(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir is Editor of Heritage Publishing House. He contributes a weekly guest editorial to the Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
