New Delhi: The Railways have cancelled 16 mail and express passenger trains daily in the last two weeks to ease the way for coal supply amidst a power crisis in the country.As many as 670 trips of passenger trains will be curtailed till May 24, Times of India has reported, citing the Union railway ministry.Out of them, 500 are trips that were going to made by long-distance mail and express trains.TOI also quoted sources as having informed it that the Railways have committed to providing 415 coal rakes every day, each with a capacity to carry around 3,500 tonnes. Most domestic coal is transported from the east to the northern, central and western parts of India.This plan is set to be in force for two months in order to avoid crisis during the monsoon months that see less mining.Coal helps generate around 70% of India’s electricity, Bloomberg has noted in a report on the topic.Gaurav Krishna Bansal, an executive director at Indian Railways has told the news outlet that the measure is ” temporary” and passenger services will be restored as soon as the situation normalises.Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortage, indicating a looming power crisis in the country, All India Power Engineers Federation said.The Delhi government has warned of a possible setback in providing uninterrupted electricity supply to important establishments in the capital, including Metro trains and hospitals.Power demand has surged amidst a heatwave across north India. In New Delhi, mercury levels are set to touch 44°C today.In an analysis earlier this month, forecasting the coal shortage and its direct effect on power, The Wire had noted that Coal India, which has been asked to ramp up its production to 700 million tonnes “to avert a shortage”, faces an acute roadblock in doing just that.Coal India’s highest production in the last decade was in FY19, when it produced 606.89 million tonnes which, even then, fell way short of the required 700 million tonnes, as expected by the ICRA, the analysis notes.The analysis also highlights that such a shortage would occur was clearly evident almost a month ago. “Against the normative requirement of maintaining reserve coal stock levels that can last for 24 days, the reserves are at the dismal level of nine days, as of March 28,” it says.Last year, a similar energy crisis loomed in some states, especially Delhi and Punjab, due to a combination of factors such as excess rainfall hitting coal movement and imported coal-based power plants generating less than half of their capacity due to record high rates.
