Revanth Reddy threatens to suspend officials as El Nino crisis deepens

Facing growing unrest among farmers over power supply disruptions during the harvesting season, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy warned senior IAS officers of suspension and directed officials to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.

Hyderabad: After repeatedly denying power cuts particularly to agriculture in Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday warned that he would suspend senior IAS officers over power supply disruptions. 

With farmers staging protests as harvesting commenced and the next 20 days being crucial for crops, the Chief Minister conceded that there had been disruptions by directing officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply round the clock.

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Ironically, the Chief Minister’s directions are in complete contrast to Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s recent statements admitting a shortage of coal stocks and the unavailability of power in the country even if the State government sought to purchase it at even Rs 15 per unit.

The Chief Minister’s strong warning appears to have come amid growing discontent among farmers over the alleged interruptions and the risk of crop losses as the harvesting season began. His insistence that no farmer should suffer losses due to power shortages indicates that the issue has become a pressing concern for the government. He is scheduled to chair a meeting of Ministers to discuss the El Nino impact on Thursday.

At a review meeting on drought conditions, El Nino, electricity and drinking water supplies at the MCRHRD Institute on Wednesday, Revanth Reddy questioned why disruptions continued despite his directions and why power generation had not been increased in anticipation of shortages. He also sought an explanation for the Yadadri thermal power plant not operating at full capacity despite coal supply linkages from Naini and Mahanadi.

While attributing the emerging risks to deficient rainfall and El Nino, Revanth Reddy termed the weather phenomenon as a crisis comparable to Covid-19 and asked officials to prepare a coordinated action plan extending until June next year. Months after the Centre’s repeated warnings on the El Nino impact, he acknowledged worsening conditions in the State and asked for continuous monitoring of the situation and awareness programmes at the village level on water and power conservation.

However, the Chief Minister’s threat to suspend the Special Chief Secretary of the Energy Department, the Genco chairman and other IAS officers places the immediate responsibility for ensuring adequate power supply squarely on the authorities, even as the government invoked El Nino to explain the broader challenges amid growing pressure on the government as farmers confront the risks of crop losses.