Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 13 (ANI): AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday slammed the Centre over the reports of the coal shortage in the country and said that the country has to suffer due to lack of planning by the Centre.

Speaking to ANI, Owaisi said, "It is a fact that out of 135 coal plants, 108 have critically low stocks of coal. Andhra Pradesh is facing load shedding. What is the reason behind it? You (Centre) do not plan anything or anticipate anything.""If the Centre would have planned the vaccination drive properly after the first wave of COVID-19, India would not have witnessed lakhs of death during the second wave of the pandemic," he said.

"You (Centre) did not have far-sightedness. When the economy will reopen after the second wave-induced lockdown, the demand for power will eventually go up. You did not notice it. The country has to suffer every time because of your non-planning," he added.

Amid growing concerns of depleting coal stock in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting with Power Minister RK Singh, Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi along with top officials of both the ministries in the North Block on Monday.

The meeting also saw the presence of top officials of National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC).

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said many Chief Ministers have written to the Central government about the critical situation at power plants due to a coal shortage.

The Chief Ministers of Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to increase the supply of coal and gas to power plants supplying electricity in their respective states. (ANI)