Darkness dawns on Valley

Srinagar, Jan 02: It is by no means a satisfactory beginning into the New Year as the very first night of the fresh year 2010 brought with it a major power breakdown in Kashmir, affecting almost every sphere of life. Though the exact reason for power breakdown was not known, officials of Power Development Department (PDD) posted at main Bemina grid station said there was no fault. “The supply is not coming from Nothern Grid.”No senior PDD official was available for comment.Recently newspapers reported said that Northern Grid had threatened to snap the power supply if Jammu and Kashmir did not pay the balance amount for the power drawn from the grid.On Saturday, people in the Valley woke up to power failure, coupled with chill as mercury dipped further to minus 4.8 degree Celsius, second lowest so far in this winter.The major power breakdown came two days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered the PDD to operationalize all the three units of Pampore Gas Turbine (PGT) to ensure adequate power supply to people in the Valley during winters.This is for first time people had to face such major power breakdown during winter for reasons other than heavy snowfall when electric poles get uprooted and lines get disconnected.People had to take bath without hot water as geysers and other electric gadgets were not working because of power failure. However, those having old system of warming the water by burning wood were not affected.