The second phase of paddy transplantation in Punjab has begun on Friday- June 5- with farmers in five districts receiving eight hours of uninterrupted power supply for agricultural operations.
Under the state government’s staggered paddy sowing schedule, farmers in Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Muktsar and Fazilka districts have become eligible for the 8-hour dedicated power supply from today.
The first phase had commenced on June 1 in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib districts.
The officials of the Punjab State Power Supply Corporation said electricity demand has remained under control so far, largely due to favourable weather conditions and intermittent rainfall across parts of the state.
The state’s peak power demand in the paddy sowing season had touched around 13,000 MW on Wednesday before falling below to 8,000 MW in the evening following rain in several districts.
The third and final phase of paddy transplantation will start on June 9 in Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Mansa, Moga, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and SBS Nagar districts. The powercom officials expect electricity demand to rise significantly once paddy transplantation begins across the entire state and nearly 14 lakh agricultural tubewells become operational.
According to Powercom, 14 of its 15 power generating units are currently operational. Nine of the 10 units at government thermal plants in Ropar, Lehra Mohabbat and Goindwal Sahib are producing about 1,260 MW of electricity. One unit at the Ropar thermal plant remains shut due to technical reasons. But, it would be made operational soon, the powercom officials claimed.
All five units of the private thermal plants at Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo are functioning and generating around 2,100 MW. In addition, hydroelectric power projects are contributing about 685 MW to the state’s power pool.
The Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the powercom Basant Garg had claimed that adequate arrangements have been made to meet the rising demand of power during the paddy season and the power utility will ensure uninterrupted supply to the farming sector. #
