KOLKATA: Every day for at least four hours various parts of West Bengal goes without electricity as the state faces an unprecedented power crisis. A shortfall of 500 MW daily coupled with unpaid bills to Coal India Ltd (CIL) is making the masses reel under the stifling heat and humidity. The state government paid Rs 60 crore to Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) on Thursday in a bid to stem the problem; at least Rs 80 crore was still pending. The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) has to pay at least Rs 500 crore to three CIL subsidiaries, including ECL.
Kolkata and the 25 lakh consumers under the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC), however, are better placed facing power cuts of less than one hour. The CESC too, however, faced cut in power supply in the face of poor generation by state units.
“The monopoly of the CIL and the arbitrary increase of prices of coal will affect the entire nation. They have to see the economics of this,” said Manish Gupta, State Power Minister, who intends to meet Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to discuss the matter.
Coal supply to state units has been hit leading to low generation of power.