** * * * Jharkhand.News <http://www.jharkhand.org.uk>* <http://jharkhand.org.in/>
* Manmohan's push for power short-circuited in Jharkhand BOKARO/RANCHI(Jharkhand), April 26: When Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyut Yojna project in Jharkhand during his visit to the state this week, he was perhaps not aware that he was helping to perpetrate a sick joke upon scores of hapless BPL villagers of Bokaro district. According to plans, ten villages in Petarwar and Kasmar blocks which have been brought under the ambitious rural electrification project initiated by the UPA government, were to have been electrified when the the Prime Minister pushed a button on the dais erected for him on the Bokaro Steel City grounds during the inauguration ceremony on 22 April. The online inauguration did take place as planned, but eight out of the ten villages which were supposed to get electricity, did not get it and their denizens remain in perennial darkness till today. Apart from Orba and Pordag villages in Petarwar block, no other targeted village has received electricity. In Munga Sarla village, while a transformer has been erected, the transmission lines which should be bringing electricity from the power plant are not to be seen. The Below Poverty Line villagers who were to be benefited under the RGGVY, have been left staring blankly at the bare poles and the electricity meters installed at their houses. In Berotand village of Kasmar block, twenty households under the BPL were to be benefited by the rural electrification project. Connections were given, but with electricity still to reach the village so far, these families still have no idea that the project had been inaugurated by the Prime Minister. In the village of Katamkulhi. boards were erected overnight to boldly announce that the villages have been brought under the RGGVY and have been electrified from 22 April onwards, but that is all that has been done. Damodar Valley Corporation which did the electrification work in the villages, is in a spot. Jharkhand State Electricity Board which is monitoring the RGGVY project in Jharkhand, has sought a detailed report from the DVC in the matter. The power utility has already issued show-cause notices to a section of officers involved in the process. Chief Minister Mr Madhu Koda, who was personally present alongside the Prime Minister at the online inauguration of the RGVVY, is also not amused. He had summoned Mr Mohan Prasad, chief engineer (rural electrification programme) DVC, and had sought an explanation. Mr Prasad, it is reported, informed the chief minister that "faults" had developed and thieves had stolen the overhead conductors. JSEB sources, meanwhile, informed The Statesman, that low power transformers had been installed in some villages, like the one in Munga Sarla, which could not carry the load. Electricity can only be provided to the villages after proper overhauling and reassessment of the load and demand, the sources said. Till then, it seems, darkness will prevail in these eight villages. thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=201359 Govt on 'elusive' power hunt Ranchi, April 25: The state government today sought to speed up efforts to set up more mini hydel power projects even as most areas of Jharkhand plunged into darkness from last night. Power generation, from Tenughat and Patratu thermal stations hovered around 277MW against a peak time demand of 750MW, with supplies from the central grid severely restricted following overnight faults in the Damodar Valley Corporation thermal units at Bokaro and Chandrapura in Jharkhand and Durgapur in Bengal. This led to power cuts for more than four-five hours at a time throughout the day today, starting from Thursday midnight. Even hospitals were not spared. DVC chairman Asim Kumar Burman told The Telegraph that due to plant breakdowns, supplies of additional 150MW to Jharkhand had to be restricted. In the districts, lack of power seriously affected drinking water supplies as pumping stations could not function. At Gumla, Lohardaga, Simdega and Khunti, men and women were forced to fetch their daily quota of drinking water over long distances. However, with the DVC plants springing back to life, the situation improved in the evening as the central load despatch centre raised the state's allocation to 215MW much to the relief of the residents. "Following improvement in generation late evening, DVC resumed supplies of a little less than 150MW to Jharkhand. We expect normality to be resumed at the earliest," the DVC chief said. Ironically, the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency chose the day to invite expressions of interest to identify and work out pre-feasibility reports on more sites — river or water bodies — to set up mini hydel projects of up to 25MW. The moves comes after a nod from the from the Union ministry of new and renewable energy sources (erstwhile ministry of non-conventional energy) for a detailed survey of 13 sites out of 47 river/water bodies already identified to set up the mini hydel projects. The projects have the ability to ensure smooth supply of electricity in the state, which is otherwise reeling under acute power crisis," said B.K. Rai, project officer of JREDA. "People have rejected big hydel projects like Koel- Karo. But these projects would not pose any problem of submergence, displacement and rehabilitation. They have been incepted in a big way in Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and most north-eastern states," said P.K. Das, JREDA assistant engineer involved with the project. The prima-facie capacity for these small hydel projects ranges between 0.04MG and 6.86MW. JREDA has the onus to develop projects of up to 25MW, said the project officer of JREDA. telegraphindia.com/1080426/jsp/jharkhand/story_9190861.jsp Want more jobs? Give us the ore! Bokaro, Apr 22: Union steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda used the launch platform of Bokaro Steel Plant's modernization and expansion programme for a bit of sparring. Koda was urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for help from the Centre to get Jharkhad some big projects that would generate employment. Paswan, sore over Jharkhand's delay in renewing the lease on the giant Chiria mines in favour of SAIL, did not miss the opportunity. "SAIL wants to set up a 12 million tonne steel plant in Jharkhand, which means it is thrice the size of Bokaro Steel Plant's present capacity, employing 20,000 people," Paswan said. "But Madhu Koda-ji is not in a mood to cooperate with SAIL on the mining issue. Chiria, with 1 billion tonne of iron ore under the ground, is said to be the second largest iron ore reserve in the world. However, the Jharkhand government, which has a proposal from steel tycoon LN Mittal as well, is yet to decide whether to divide Chiria for all players or renew the lease in favour of SAIL. Paswan said SAIL has revised its target of increasing steel capacity and plans to take it up to 124m tonne by 2011-12 against 110m tonne by 2010 as planned earlier. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his speech, pointed out that the Union government has allotted Jharkhand Rs 40,240 crore for the 11 th Five-Year Plan, which is three times the allocation that was made for the 10 th Plan. The center has also granted Rs 7,000 crore for the development the tribals, but the state has been unable to hold the panchayat elections because of some pending cases so the funds have not been released.Singh also highlighted the railway ministry's plans to improve the connectivity between Jharkhand's capital Ranchi and Delhi and the surface transport ministry's plans for better highways in the state. SAIL's Bokaro plant is increasing hot metal capacity from 4.5m tonne per annum at present to 7.44m tpa by 2010 at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore, an upward revision from the initial estimate of Rs 9,000 crore. financialexpress.com/news/Paswan-presses-Jharkhand-for-Chiria-ore/300426/ * * * * + yourself @ Jharkhand.org.in/directory<http://www.jharkhand.org.in/directory> * * News TV <http://www.indian-tv.blogspot.com/> Blog <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/blog> Photo <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/photo> Music <http://www.jharkhandi.org/music.htm> Video <http://www.jharkhandi.org/video.htm> Live Chat <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/live> Directory <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/directory> Testimonials <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/testimonials> Forum <http://yahoogroups.com/group/jharkhand> Contact <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/contact.htm> . * .
