The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Widespread power disruptions in city

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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Widespread power disruptions in city

Staff Reporter

24-hour helpline is always busy, allege residents
Situation expected to improve within three days

HYDERABAD: Power cuts continue to trouble the city three days after the near collapse of power grid due to insufficient generation.

Complaints of prolonged power cuts ranging from two to four hours are pouring in from different parts of the city. The situation is particularly bad in Old City and Ranga Reddy zone, where the unscheduled cuts irk consumers to no end.

Routine affair

“Unscheduled power breakdowns of four to five hours duration have become the routine for the past ten days. I must have dialled the 24-hour helpline about 50 times, but always found it busy. Then I tried to contact the local office, only to realise that they put down the receiver,” complained Mohd. Habib, president of Public Welfare Society at Amzaddaula Bagh near Charminar. Even Minister for Energy Mohd. Ali Shabbir is not reachable, he said.

Areas in the Old City such as Misrigunj, Kala Patthar, Sattarbagh, and New Tadban Road had power cuts of long durations, while cuts ranging from half-an-hour to one hour were reported from various other parts of the city.

Authorities attribute the crisis to low frequency and inadequate power generation. “Power generation is affected owing to floods in West Bengal, Assam and Orissa. Supply from Western Grid has come down drastically. The situation is expected to improve within three days,” said Chandramohan Reddy, the Chief General Manager, Operation and Maintenance wing.

Supply to the rural areas is totally cut down, save for the four hours provision for agriculture.

Chief General Manager of Metro Zone Victoria Krupadanamma said efforts to save the city from power interruptions did not succeed.

“Depending on the amount of load relief summoned by Load Monitoring Cell, we are tripping feeders in various localities,” she informed.

Crisis or no crisis, power cuts seem to be a regular phenomenon in the city suburbs.

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Andhra Pradesh