‘You can’t give more power but at least give more ‘fairness’: the case of Muzaffarpur!
Patna/Muzaffarpur: when power goes off on a hot summer afternoon, nothing consoles, including bad jokes, supposedly cooling drinks, a cucumber snack or the summer fashion, fabric and colours suggested by the smart tabloids.
According to the latest reports in the press, even 1, Anne Marg is not exempt from the problem – recently when the fans came to a standstill at the janta durbar, the crowd of visitors sat staring at the static fans in disbelief but also with satisfaction. Some reacted by admitting that the still fans prove Nitish is not telling tales about the power shortage. Others continued to whine to the reporters about thirteen hour power cuts at home when Nitish’s fans swung into action within the hour.
As the durbar proceeded last Monday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar demanded that the Centre sanction major chunk of the power being availed by it from Bhutan to the state. He said he would reach Bhutan on a three day-tour on May 4 at the invitation of the Bhutan king and prime minister. He said there were several hydel power projects which were set up following the support of Indian government to Bhutan. ‘I will personally visit some of the hydel power plants in Bhutan’ Nitish affirmed.
As Bihar scrapes the bottom for more power, a Bihar official has reportedly found some means of managing the unfairness that goes with power cuts. The District magistrate of Muzaffarpur Santosh Kumar Mall has come up with a roster system of power distribution following a series of unruly protests over the dismal electricity scenario in the district. This happened when the administration was led to believe that if the problem was not addressed to, it could soon turn into a law and order problem.
Recently, Mall met up with the top electricity officials including general manger of Tirhut area electricity board, Mohammad Giyasuddin, and a decision was taken to come up with a roster chart to gauge the power requirements of various places. The district receives between 20MW and 40MW of power. If the district got 40MW from the Central Load Dispatch, it would be able to provide power for a maximum of 13 hours to the people residing in the urban areas. In the villages, a power supply could be facilitated for seven hours. The district needs 75MW to ensure round-the-clock power supply.
Mall said the rotation system has been implemented in view of the recent outbursts. “Now all pockets of the township would get an equal share of power distribution. Efforts have been made to provide round-the-clock electricity to the medical feeder of the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH). The hospital had been facing serious problems because of the lack of power supply. The functioning of the hospital received a severe jolt for want of electricity.”
The bottom line is – when there isn’t enough of something, what does fairness mean – simple, we share the power just as fairly as the powerlessness, alternating both among ourselves! When that happens, strangely, human beings begin to find the heat and the discomfort a bit more bearable!
And what does the case of Muzaffarpur prove? Some fairness in the head and the heart and a calculator in hand!