(ET)
Even as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked power officials to maintain routine power supply in the state, Uttar Pradesh is likely to face a bigger electricity crisis as the backup coal stocks for thermal power plants have started depleting this month.
The coal shortage may worsen during the monsoon when the supplies fall short annually due to rain and floods that disrupt mining and transportation.
A senior power official said that thermal plants face coal shortage during the monsoon every year between June and September.But this time, the coal shortage started in April largely due to lesser supply from coal companies that are facing shortage of wagons for ferrying coal to plants. The situation may only get worse with the rains and floods in the coming weeks.
According to a Central Electricity Authority’s report available on its website, most of Uttar Pradesh’s thermal plants had coal stocks in the critical and super-critical range as of April 22.
