By IANS,
Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir has been hit by a major water and power crisis because of continuous dry spell and delay in monsoon, officials said here Friday.
The Jammu region is sweltering with the mercury levels hitting 44 degrees Celsius in the past week. But adding to the agony of people are the long power cuts.
Power Commissioner Sandeep Nayak said the state is undergoing outages because it generates only 750 megawatts while the requirement is of 2,000 megawatts of power.
“There is a huge gap between demand and supply and that results in the power cuts,” he said.
The official also pointed out that the water levels in the Chenab and Tawi rivers are also falling.
“It is because of the receding glaciers. There is less flow of water as the glaciers in the Himalayas feeding these rivers have receded considerably,” said geologist G.M. Bhat.
The growing demand for water and low supply has spelt trouble for farmers in the rice basket of Ranbirsinghpora.
“There is no water to irrigate our fields,” said Gulchain Singh Charak, a former minister who represents the farming community on the border belt of Jammu region.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that monsoon, even if it arrives late, would help us,” said Bhat.