Read the following passage carefully and answers the questions that follow:
Most of the southern and western States, and even the normally surplus States in the north-
east, are now going through a major power crisis. Power generation has suffered because of
poor hydel storage, thanks to a truant monsoon. Compounding the problem, States that usually
come to the help of large consumers in such a predicament have themselves run into difficulties
in thermal generation on account of vagaries in coal supply. As a result, States like Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have to contend with a major-shortage. In Tamil Nadu,
there is no power cut, officially, but unscheduled load shedding is freely resorted to.
At the national level, the gap between power generation and demand has been widening
steadily, and it is due not a little to the persisting slippage in targeted addition to the generation
capacity during the last two Plan periods. Power-deficit Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, which have
been regularly buying power from the Central undertakings, could not do so this year because
their neighbours, who are also in distress, happen to draw their full entitlement from the
regional grid. Also, none of the power trading corporations has been able to make up the
shortfall. The result: power outages, tripping, power cuts, and unscheduled load shedding for a
few hours every day.
If the supply side of power position is thus beset with severe constraints, the demand side has
its own quota of problems for the power managers and administrators. While the overall
shortfall in electricity demand for the country is placed at 15-20 percent, the shortfall faced by
several States in peak demand now is reported to range from 20 percent to 30 percent.
Specifically, following the sharp rise in the price of diesel, there has been a big jump in demand
from consumption by the farm sector.
Confronted as they are with heightened difficulties on both supply and demand fronts, the
State Electricity Boards are constantly working on contingency plans to tide over the crisis and
fondly hoping that the monsoon will revive and fill the hydel reservoirs before long. The
authorities would do well to use more purposefully the grid structure and the consultation
mechanism that already exist. Some restrictive measures may be inevitable, but the least the
consumers expect is transparency. Whether it is staggering supply, rotational load shedding or
any other, prior intimation to the user-group will surely go some way in mitigating the hardship.
(470 words)
(a On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using recognizable
abbreviations (Min.4) wherever necessary. Use a format you consider appropriate. Supply a
suitable title. (4
Marks)
(b) Write a summary of the passage.
