A23. HOW PUNJAB GOT FULL POWER LIKE FREE
Badal Sahib has had very close ties with every
government at the Center. He never demanded a
nuclear power plant to make Punjab a power-rich
state. Capt. Amarinder Singh has also been very
close to the Sonia family. He also never
demanded the installation of nuclear power
plants to meet the power needs of Punjab.
However, in Punjab itself, heavy water
was produced in the Bhakra Dam which is the fuel
of the nuclear plant. The use of this heavy
water of Punjab, to generate electricity in
Punjab, was the constitutional demand of Punjab.
But this demand was never made. Mr. Sukhbir
Singh was the Union Minister. Today, his wife is
a Union Minister. He also never felt the need to
make such a demand.
The present government of Punjab is
giving false pretenses of power export. In fact,
in rural areas, the power goes out several times
an hour. The farmer gets an average of two hours
of electricity. The factory worker stays up all
day because of the power outage. The employer's
profit, the labor bonus, is lost.
There are many types of nuclear plants in India.
About two dozen atomic power plants have been in
operation for a long time. About a dozen more
are under construction. There are three types of
nuclear power plants. The first type of nuclear
power plant runs on heavy water. Other types of
nuclear power plants generate energy through
thorium reactors. The third type of reactor
generates electricity from uranium.
The government can generate electricity in
Punjab through all the three reactors. He said
that production of heavy water in Bhakra Dam
should be resumed and electricity should be
generated in Bhakra itself through pressurized
heavy water reactor.
India has the world's largest reserves of
thorium power. India has developed a special
technology to build a thorium reactor. Several
thorium reactors are operating in India.
Government installs leaked fluoride thorium
reactor in Punjab. Coal-fired power generation
is now expensive. Thermal plants can be
converted into thorium reactor plants.
The government took over the uranium waste
reutilizer reactor, Bathinda Refinery and
installed it on the vacant land. The Bathinda
refinery has 2,000 acres of land, while it has
used only 400 acres. Products from Bathida
refinery should be used in this reactor.
How much electricity the government can
generate can be gauged from the fact that one
kilogram of uranium produces 2.5 lakh kilowatt
hours of electricity. One kilogram of uranium
produces thirty million times more electricity
than one kilogram of coal. Canada has the
largest uranium reserves. The government took
uranium for the Bathinda reactor directly from
Canada, in the Canadian government, under the
influence of Punjabi ministers.
The cost of generating electricity through
atomic energy is about Rs. 1 per unit. The cost
of managing and communicating costs is only Rs.
2 per unit. Thermal power makes electricity one
rupee more expensive. Electricity can be
provided at Rs. 3 per unit for domestic
consumption. But the Badal government, in
collusion with the power board and some private
companies, has allowed them to rob the consumer
in various ways. The government should conduct
special audits of power boards and private
companies. Provision should be made for the
officer who snatched the loot to be sent to jail
instead of the dismissal, and to re-enter the
amount of the loot into the consumer's account.
For mini solar energy plant, government should
provide 100% long term loan for machinery and
shed construction. No license is required for a
mini solar energy plant. Consumers can buy mini
solar energy plants wherever they want. The
power generated from the mini solar energy plant
should be bought by the corporation at the same
rate at which it is selling power itself.
Procure all the power generated by the Mini
Solar Energy Plant.
However, the corporation has still released this
procurement system for show. But the deception
is that the corporation has forced the consumer
to buy the plant from only a few of its approved
contractors. Behind which there is clear
corruption. In the open market, plants can fetch
half the price or less. The corporation procures
only two-thirds of the consumer's total
electricity. That too at a very low price.
Getting approval and getting the site passed is
also quite a hassle. This means that corruption
is everywhere.
The government needs to open its eyes. Plants
can be planted on the roof of every house. One
more roof will be built for free. The hassle of
getting approval from the Municipal Corporation
is over. Solar energy plants will be installed
at every bore of the farmer. The farmer below
will grow vegetables. Will store farm produce.
Solar energy plants can be installed on the
slopes of every factory. The heat in the factory
will go down.
From this the farmer can get free electricity
for agricultural use and the industrialist can
get free electricity for his produce. If the
government wants, the "power surplus state" can
become a reality in just six months. Farmers can
get free electricity 24 hours a day. An
additional requirement of Rs. 1 per hour can be
met. Industry can use free electricity. There
will be no cuts. Labor will not sit idle. The
work will increase. Labor will get higher wages.
It has come to light that the top officials of
the power corporation, according to the
connivance of the looters, are increasing the
electricity bills many times and are blindly
looting the poor and the middle class. The
government should inquire into the corrupt
officers of the power corporation from the time
of their appointment in the power corporation.
They should recover the money looted from the
consumer and deposit it in the consumer's
electricity account. Which should be deducted
from the consumer's next electricity bill.