Southern States - Karnataka   

Gowda blames CM for power sector ills

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore Aug. 18. The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, has charged that the indecision and ad hoc approach on the part of the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, had destroyed the power sector in the State.

The charge is made in a letter to the Chief Minister, dated July 15, which has reminded Mr. Krishna that unless the Government takes drastic steps to augment power supply and prevent a further slide, he will be responsible for stalling the growth and development of the State.

The letter is part of a booklet, "Karnataka: Towards darkness", authored by Mr. Gowda and released at a function organised by the Bayalu Parishat and the Kannada Vidyarthi Sangha here today. The booklet contains a number of letters and supporting documents on the points raised by Mr. Gowda.

In his July 15 letter, Mr. Gowda has referred to the steps taken by the Government in which Mr. Krishna was the Deputy Chief Minister to accord approval to numerous power projects to produce 6,500 MW of power. He has said the Janata government, which succeeded it, had not only supported the projects, but also taken steps to add nearly 1,000 MW of power.

However, Mr. Gowda has said, after Mr. Krishna became Chief Minister, unfortunately, a lot of negative signals were sent which destroyed the power sector in the State.

"All your decisions in the sector were driven by a personal agenda rather than with the interests of people and the State in mind. The negativism shown by you has been demonstrated by vindictive decisions on various aspects of the power sector," the letter says, referring to a couple of cases.

A case referred to relates to Cogentrix. The letter says that due to "negative signals and body language" of the Government, the company was forced to leave though it was welcomed to the State during Congress rule when S. Bangarappa was the Chief Minister and, later, M. Veerappa Moily.

Mr. Gowda has charged that the Government, at each stage, was frustrating the investors, leaving them with no option but to abandon their projects in disgust.

"In fact, if any person who has been singularly responsible for completely choking and destroying the power sector in the State is to identified, the accusing finger will point to your door only," the letter says.

The Government, instead of realising its mistake, has been trying to cover it up by misleading the people by promising to provide power through projects of the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd., which are still in the very initial stages.

In a particular reference to the 1,000 MW Nagarjuna project, Mr. Gowda has asked why it was denied support, considering that power from this project would have been the cheapest. In case the Government was serious in overcoming the power crisis, it should ensure that all projects at an advanced stage, with all clearances in hand and with low cost of power, came up without any delay.

Releasing the booklet, G. Thimmaiah, a former member of the Planning Commission, said Karnataka, which was a pioneer in hydroelectric projects, was today the most power deficit State in the country. The deficit was about 3,000 MW and the amount required to generate it was Rs. 15,000 crore. It was, therefore, not in the interests of the State to turn away the private sector with lame excuses.

Babu Mathew of the National Law School of India University said power sector development should not be made a matter of dispute between two political parties if the State's interests were to be protected. He favoured a public discussion on points like the State's efforts and plans to generate 4,000 MW of power required.

Mr. Gowda, in a brief speech, said the booklet was not intended against anybody or to gain any mileage, but to point to the neglect of the power sector.

The former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University, B. Shaik Ali, said the booklet was a timely warning to the establishment that it could ignore the power sector only at its own risk.

Y.S.V. Datta welcomed the chief guests.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Private schools, colleges to go on strike
• Ministers rally to Krishnappa's defence
• CM misleading people on drought: Sedam
• Bijapur Cong. factions to meet Vayalar Ravi
• Gowda blames CM for power sector ills
• EC alone can decide on polls: Seshan
• `Govt. has failed on drought relief front'

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu