Allaying fears of power cuts, Energy minister V Sunil Kumar on Monday clarified that the current crisis due to the inadequate supply of coal will be resolved in two days.
Taking part in the induction programme of junior power man (Linemen) at the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) in Bengaluru, he expressed hopes that the situation will be normal in two days.
"A rake of coal dispatched from Mahanandi Coal Fields in Odisha will be reaching Karnataka on Tuesday. One more rake of coal will arrive on Wednesday and this will be resolving the prevailing crisis," Sunil Kumar said.
Adding further, the minister said, "We were supplied with about 10 rakes all these days. Now we have requested the Union Coal minister Pralhad Joshi to increase it to 14 rakes. Out of these, the two rakes will immediately deliver the required coal for our thermal plants and the other two will arrive in November."
Acknowledging that the shortage of coal may have led to serious problems in the state Sunil Kumar said, "We were anxious and trying our best to resolve the crisis. Led by CM Basavaraj Bommai, we had even submitted a memorandum to the union and the centre has also responded quickly to our request."
Clarifying that no thermal plant was shut due to the shortage, Sunil Kumar replied, "Only in a few plants, the generation was brought down by a few hours. But no thermal plant was shut for the shortage of coal."
In the meantime, the state government has appealed to the Union minister for the environment and Forests Bhupendra Yadav to grant permission to carry out coal mining at Mandakini and Baranji in Maharashtra where coal blocks were allocated to Karnataka.
"As soon as we get permission to extract coal, we will proceed with that work as well ensuring an adequate supply of coal to Karnataka," Sunil Kumar explained.
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