Probe committee offers nothing
THE nationwide electricity shutdown on November 1 and the failure to find the reasons thereof by the committee are not only unexpected but downright disheartening. We have all been informed how due to a combined effect of fall in voltage and system frequency caused a chain reaction that shutdown plants originating from Bheramara. Yet the probe committee that published its final report has failed to trace the cause of this low voltage. Indeed the report has skirted the issue in entirety. What the committee states is that this was due to professional negligence of some officials who failed to take corrective action at the National Load Despatch Centre. It has basically recommended a few steps that will, hopefully, help avoid a repetition of the November 1 incident that plunged the whole nation into darkness for more than half the day.
That is all very nice. But the fact remains is that we still do not know precisely why electricity failed on a national scale. We have been told that the safety measures did not work on that day. It still does not explain the precise reason for grid failure. The failure to pinpoint the exact cause of such failure rests squarely on the probe committee. Their passing on the buck to others is hardly helpful for anyone. We still do not know the level of loss caused to the economy due to the daylong shutdown. And since we now “officially” have no idea precisely what went wrong, how we can prepare for the next blackout is anybody's guess.
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