So you are fed up. And frustrated with the frequent power cuts. That too when Diwali, the festival of lights is approaching. However there is no urgent cure to the problem of power paucity.
One of my friends, in that hypothetical 'if-I-would-be-made-CM' mood had famously said that he would ensure that there is abundance of water resources, land and electricity. He argued that it is the only way to prosper as a state/nation.
Indeed the power cuts are a sad reality. And an indication to the 'status of development' in Maharashtra and entire India. Maharashtra, India’s most developed state simply does not generate enough power. Gujarat could possibly be the only exception in case of 24*7 electricity supply.
The pace of urbanization and ever-increasing population has strained the process of overall development. Ironically there is no line-up of new power generation plants, especially in Maharashtra. And whatever are there in the pipe line, they are there from I don’t know how many years.
And to top it all there was a show of audacity of the government, should I say the brazenness. They blamed it on the almost everything – Orissa floods, coal supply hit by Telengana dissent, and justified that all India is suffering by power cuts!
It was only after people began protesting that the government, and the media, sat up and took notice.
This is no longer acceptable. Power is one of the foundations of modern civilization. Every power cut shows how far we are from calling ourselves a developed country.
The government needs to set up more power plants and get private investment through proper agreements, improve transmission and distribution, and crack down on corruption.
And it needs to do it now!
