October 12, 2008

Bihar accepts NTPC proposal for power distribution

PTI reported that Bihar government has accepted the center’s proposal to allow the National Thermal Power Corporation at Kahalgaon to directly distribute electricity to the areas within a radius of 10 to 12 kilometers, meeting the long pending demand of locals.

Mr Jairam Ramesh union minister of state for energy met Mr Nitish Kumar chief minister the state recently with the proposal from the NTPC in this connection. Emerging from the meeting, Mr Kumar said that the state government agreed to the NTPC's proposal in the interest of the people of Kahalgaon.

Mr Ramesh directed the authorities to start preparations for supplying power to the promised areas without delay. Describing his meeting with Kumar as fruitful, he said that the construction of the NTPC plant at Barh was moving at a slow pace due to some problems of the Russian company, which was assigned the job. However, it would soon be accelerated.

Official sources said that NTPC proposes to cover areas within a radius of 10 kilometers to 12 kilometers from the plant in the wake of the recent unrest in Kahalgaon. Three people had lost their lives in police firing at Kahalgaon in January 2008 when demonstrators seeking uninterrupted power supply from the NTPC turned violent and attacked the policemen. The firings had sparked off protests by opposition parties in Bihar which demanded resignation of chief minister.