FROM BOMBAY TO DELHI- K.R.Unnithan

Southwest monsoon was furious and devastating this year in the western coast. Kerala and Maharastra was the worst affected. There will be chocking of rail transportation when there is a heavy down pore in Mumbai. But this year the torrential rain flooded the whole city and suburbs including the near by towns. There was no road transport and trains. Chathrapathi Sivaji International Airport was closed. Several other Cities and hundreds of villages were put under water, especially in district of western Maharashtra like Sathara, Sangli, Kolapur, Sholapur and Pune. There was no power supply. Mumbi metropolitan city, it’s suburbs, and the near by towns were dipped in darkness. Electric lines broke and poles fell down. Many transmission towers lost it’s position and consequently the transmission system failed. This situation prevailed for more than a fortnight in many of the suburban areas. The death toll increased 1000.Callos state’s administration was parallelized and staring at this situation for more than a week.

The distribution of power in the old Mumbai metro is carried out by BEST- a metropolitan corporation undertaking. The vast suburban area is under the command of Reliance Power, which was known as Bombay Suburban Electric Supply Co.(BSES)before it was taken over by Ambanies.Power distribution to other parts of the state is done by MSEB.(Even though MSEB is trifurcated it is kept under the holding company named as MSEB.)Many seem to be intoxicated by the stories and poems appearing in a sizable section of the media praising the efficiency of private power Companies in and outside India. The reality is just opposite. Look at Maharashtra.

 Amidst innumerable consequences of the torrential rain and flood, including insemenisation of contagious diseases, MSEB and it’s men fought like a valiant soldier to pacify the people by resuming power supply from day one of the natural calamity. Later, BSES Reliance Power could restore power supply to it’s 25 lakhs of consumers only by supplementing human and other resources of MSEB.So there was another flood- a flood of admiration to MSEB –by both print and electronic media.

BEST was also doing a good job in Metro area. But Reliance power management miserably failed as we have seen in Orisa while the state was partially devastated by cyclone. There the American Electric Supply Corporation (AES) was charge sheeted by both the Government and the SERC for criminal dereliction of duty. Later their license for distribution was revoked. Here, the suburbs of Mumbai, from Kurla to Vikroli in the eastern side and from Bandra to Bhyander on the western side, were not supplied with electric power for nine days. It took even ten to fourteen days to restore power supply by BSES with the help of MSEB to Kurla, Sakinaka, Khaleena, Sandacruz, Malad, Kandivilli and Chembur etc..The Reliance Power management started their job only when they received a notice on the tenth day from the state government to the effect that unless they restore power supplies to the affected area under their jurisdiction they will be proceeded against by all means.” Employees, both workers and officers, are frustrated. Top management is imported from elsewhere” said Golandas, when this author contacted him over phone. He is a retired engineer from BEST, and worked for 5 days in the BSES control room voluntarily to restore power supply.” There are no sufficient spare transformers to replace the faulty transformers, no oil filtering unit, no sufficient vehicle for transporting men and materials to the work sites and for patrolling the lines, no pumps for de-watering. Only 3000 desperate employees for looking after 25 lakhs and odd consumers were there. Staff strength has been curtailed drastically to the tune of more than 25% in BSES after the take over by Ambanies.”Golandas added.

The joint front of 32 organisations of employees of power sector in Maharastra has demanded a detailed probe into the criminal irresponsibility of BSES management in restoring power supply. Joint committee of progressive trade unions including AITUC & CITU has also raised the same demand before the state government. 

There were down pores for few days at Delhi forcing the burning heat to retreat. But the citizen of Delhi is still burning. Like the melting summer visits Delhi every year with out any default, the hike of power tariff come. More over electric power is appearing and disappearing in chilling cold and melting heat of the capital. The inhabitants of Delhi are “sentenced to burn the mind “by a limited company of private power distributors, DSERC and the state government led by Sheela Dexith. The media – at least a majority of them- were bringing out tall claims of success of privatisation of power sector, its efficient functioning and the unparallel service rendered to consumers. But now they are competing each other to narrate their failure in Delhi. Times of India is taking a lead as in the former case, as they want to promote the marketing of their commodity among Delhi residents. So the paper put a sticker on their forehead saying “No body covers Delhi as we do” and pose themselves as voice of the resident welfare associations (RWA). In this context they were forced to tell the truth. Print media set apart at least half a page for portraying the outcry of residents against the prolonged power and water interruptions and related matters.

The author of this article himself has got many such experiences. When I tried to send an e-mail on another day from ITO- the heart of the city-I could not do it for about six hours, due to power failure. On 20^th of August, when I was preparing this article using a computer in BTR Bhavan at ITO, I could not do it for want of power for about seven hours in the day. There was prolonged power interruption on different part of the city on the same day including Goal Market area. Representatives of the RWAs comments that they cannot find a single day with out a minimum two hours interruption of power, in the near past.

Power theft is continuing in a big way. Innocent consumers have to bear the brunt of this. The low quality electronic meters used for replacing the electromechanically meters are also creating lot of problems.
 

 None of the promises aired while privatising Delhi distribution were fulfilled by the private companies, few of which are given below:

q       Electric connections will be provided with in 15 days of application

q       Owner ship of the connection can be changed with in four months from the date of application for the same

q       Deposits will be refunded with in four months if one doesn’t require electric connection.

q       Issue of temporary bills while meter is faulty will be limited to two.

q       Receipt will be issued with in seven days for the complaint filed by the consumer regarding bills.

q       The above complaint will be disposed off with in 15 days.

q       Complaint on meter will be rectified with in 15 days after testing of the meter.

q       The company will pay the compensation for breach of any of the above. 

Out of the three distribution zones in Delhi, two are commanded by Reliance Power and one by Tata.On a cursory look on the ARR and ERC filed by the companies before DERC one can easily find that the ARR is exceeding ERC. The revenue gap of the distribution companies projected for 2005-06 is amounting to Rs.1089 Cr.The request of Reliance power companies was to enhance tariff to fill up this gap + regulatory asset formed during the previous year amounting to Rs.69 Cr.

 After scrutiny considering the subsidy offered by GoD,the commission approved a whopping composite tariff hike to the tune of 10-12.5% to domestic consumers, 20% to the agricultural consumers etc…to all the discoms.  Conscious effort is made by the Commission to reduce cross subsidy element in the tariff. Concomitantly the domestic   tariff will increase to Rs.2.65 to 4.70 per unit.

 This increase is taking effect from 15^th July. A whopping subsidy of Rs.3452 Cr.was flowing from the state’s exchequer for the last four years after privatisation of distribution in Delhi which is more than the equity of these companies, in order to keep the tariff affordable and to ensure the prescribed profit to the private companies. The present unbearable increase in tariff is subsequent to this expenditure from the state’s treasury! Over and above all these, a revenue gap of Rs.320 Cr.is approved by the commission while allowing 16% profit to the company. This is expected to be converted as regulatory asset. Next years tariff increase will be to fill up this gap with it’s interest plus the next year’s revenue gap. Now every body is aware that yearly increase in tariff is the characteristic phenomenon of unbundled and privatised power sector.
 

 The average tariff increase with in the last three years after privatization of distribution is 44% 

A few days ago representatives of nearly 150 RWAs assembled at Defence colony and gave a call to observe a “black day” to protest against the present tariff hike. They also protested against the pro-private attitude of the government. Delhi citizen’s forum is also in the warpath against privatization and tariff hike. 

It is to be reminded that the proclaimed targets of unbundling and privatisation of SEBs were wiping out revenue loss, reduction of burden on the stat’s exchequer, decreasing tariff and increasing quality of service by enhancing overall efficiency to reach the goal of higher availability, accessibility, reliability and affordability of power to the ordinary citizen of India. Kindly have a re-look at this promises and proclamations. Are they not void?