Rajasthan
Power Supply: Power Supply At Night Not A Saviour, Believe Raj Farmers | Jaipur News
Jaipur: Considering the demands of farmers, the state government has announced providing power supply at night, but the step is being considered to be merely a futile decision rather than a productive one, according to them.
“What does the government expect us to do? Work throughout the day and again stay awake the whole night. There is also a concern for the safety of the farmers. There are high chances that they will get bitten by snakes or poisonous insects. We don’t think this is any kind of solution,” said Jagdish Kumar, farmer from Kota.
Earlier this week, chief minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting to take a decision over the grappling issue of a power shortage in the state. With farmers staging protests in areas like Sri Ganganagar, Jodhpur and others, the government announced that it would cut power supply to industries and give it to farmers and common people.
“Giving away orders is easy, but currently, there is not enough infrastructure to support the utility of power supply at night. There are not enough tube wells to draw water, and it is not clear how the government’s plan to provide electricity at night is going to be useful,” said Rakesh Bishnoi, farmer from Suratgarh.
The average electricity consumption in August of last year was 2,300 lakh units, but due to insufficient rain in the monsoon season this year, the electricity shortage for agricultural irrigation has increased. The average consumption of electricity in the state has crossed 3,400 lakh units per day. The maximum demand for electricity has reached around 17,000 MW.
The farmers noted that they witnessed a good monsoon till around July 20, and since then the state has been witnessing depleting rain. Owing to this, many crops are in danger of being destroyed.
“In our region, 192 farmers have written, noting that their motors have burned owing to low voltage, and the cost of repairing them is around Rs. 14,500. It is not possible for the farmers to afford such a cost,” Bishnoi added.
Highlighting the fact that not all farmers have the capacity to have their own tubewell to draw water, they noted that the government should have thought about more alternatives as to how others can fetch water for irrigation at night.
“The government had promised power supply during the day but failed. It is not possible to irrigate at night when the temperature falls further in the coming days. The government has signed so many MoUs related to other alternative sources of energy, especially solar power, but the farmers have so far not been able to draw any benefits from them. Areas like Bikaner, where the water level is low, have suffered major blows. Some crops can still be saved if the government supplies electricity on time,” pointed out Ram Ratan Bagdiya, President, Akhil Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union.
“What does the government expect us to do? Work throughout the day and again stay awake the whole night. There is also a concern for the safety of the farmers. There are high chances that they will get bitten by snakes or poisonous insects. We don’t think this is any kind of solution,” said Jagdish Kumar, farmer from Kota.
Earlier this week, chief minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting to take a decision over the grappling issue of a power shortage in the state. With farmers staging protests in areas like Sri Ganganagar, Jodhpur and others, the government announced that it would cut power supply to industries and give it to farmers and common people.
“Giving away orders is easy, but currently, there is not enough infrastructure to support the utility of power supply at night. There are not enough tube wells to draw water, and it is not clear how the government’s plan to provide electricity at night is going to be useful,” said Rakesh Bishnoi, farmer from Suratgarh.
The average electricity consumption in August of last year was 2,300 lakh units, but due to insufficient rain in the monsoon season this year, the electricity shortage for agricultural irrigation has increased. The average consumption of electricity in the state has crossed 3,400 lakh units per day. The maximum demand for electricity has reached around 17,000 MW.
The farmers noted that they witnessed a good monsoon till around July 20, and since then the state has been witnessing depleting rain. Owing to this, many crops are in danger of being destroyed.
“In our region, 192 farmers have written, noting that their motors have burned owing to low voltage, and the cost of repairing them is around Rs. 14,500. It is not possible for the farmers to afford such a cost,” Bishnoi added.
Highlighting the fact that not all farmers have the capacity to have their own tubewell to draw water, they noted that the government should have thought about more alternatives as to how others can fetch water for irrigation at night.
“The government had promised power supply during the day but failed. It is not possible to irrigate at night when the temperature falls further in the coming days. The government has signed so many MoUs related to other alternative sources of energy, especially solar power, but the farmers have so far not been able to draw any benefits from them. Areas like Bikaner, where the water level is low, have suffered major blows. Some crops can still be saved if the government supplies electricity on time,” pointed out Ram Ratan Bagdiya, President, Akhil Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union.
