"Less Than A Day's Coal" SOS From Delhi Amid Record Heat, Power Cuts

Soon after the Delhi government's warning of a possible setback in providing an uninterrupted electricity supply to important establishments in the capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that the state has somehow managed to provide power so far in the face of a crisis but solid steps are immediately needed to resolve the situation. "The situation in entire India is dire. We have to collectively come up with a solution soon. Solid steps are immediately needed to resolve this situation" he tweeted.

Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain today said that there is a severe coal crisis across the country and many places have just one day of coal left when they should have at least 21 days of reserve coal. He blamed the situation on a lack of coordination and appealed to the Centre to increase coal allocation to Delhi. "There are no backups as electricity can't be stored...There are no payments dues from our side. The Centre should increase coal rack allocation. There is a lack of coordination that needs to be addressed," he said.

"Due to disruption of power supply from Dadri-II and Unchahar power stations, there may be a problem in 24-hours power supply to many essential institutions, including Delhi Metro and Delhi government hospitals," a Delhi government statement read.

Presently, 25-30 per cent of the electricity demand in Delhi is being met through these power stations, and they face a shortage of coal, Mr Jain said. He said the government was monitoring the situation closely and making every possible effort to ensure that people did not face power outages in some areas of the capital.

According to the daily coal report of the National Power Portal, many power plants face an acute shortage of coal. This, coupled with the sweltering summer, has triggered blackouts across many parts of the country as states struggle to manage the record demand for electricity. Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortage, indicating a looming power crisis in the country, All India Power Engineers Federation said.

Besides measures to increase coal supplies to power plants, the Union government has asked states to step up their imports for the next three years to build up inventories. Coal helps generate about 70% of the country's electricity.

India has cancelled some passenger trains to allow for faster movement of coal carriages as the nation scrambles to replenish depleting inventories at power plants in a bid to avoid a full-blown power crisis, Bloomberg reported. 

The measure is temporary and passenger services will be restored as soon as the situation normalises, said Gaurav Krishna Bansal, an executive director at Indian Railways. The state-run operator is trying to minimise the time it takes to move coal to power plants, he said.

The Railways plans to add 100,000 more wagons to its fleet to meet the growing demand. It is also constructing dedicated freight corridors to deliver goods faster.

Coal reserves at India's power plants have declined almost 17% since the start of this month and are barely a third of the required levels.