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Thursday, Jul 17, 2008
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Power cuts darken life in city

Chitra V. Ramani

People sore over erratic electricity supply as it affects their routine

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

POWERLESS: Schoolchildren are the worst hit as they are forced to do their homework in darkness, thanks to the power crisis in Bangalore.

Bangalore: With power shortage looming large over the State, Bangalore, the pampered capital, has begun to feel the heat.

Residents of different parts of the city have been complaining about the intermittent power supply.

Triveni Murthy, a resident of Palace Guttahalli and principal of MLA Pre-University College, grumbled about the erratic supply.

“The worst part is that it is unscheduled. If the power was cut at a fixed time, we would at least make adjustments so that our routine work remains unaffected.”

She said power would go off from half an hour to an hour, at least four times a day. “We feel crippled when there is no power supply,” she said.

Jameela N., homemaker and resident of R.T. Nagar, said that over the past week, power supply had been erratic.

“There is no fixed time. The power supply is cut at regular intervals. It is terrible for people who are at home. We need electricity for every small activity as we have come to depend on it so much,” she said.

Sneha D. Prasad, who works at a private enterprise on West of Chord Road, said power was cut every other hour. “We are facing a lot of problems at work because of the intermittent power supply. We are forced to depend on generators.”

Studies affected

Consumers from Hebbal, Vijayanagar, Chennammanakere Achukattu, Old Madras Road and Miller’s Road all complained that the power shutdown lasted for at least two hours in the morning and two in the evening. “It is terrible when the power supply is cut in the evening.

“Children usually have a lot of homework to do. With the regular power shutdown, their study hours get affected,” a concerned mother said.

Energy Department Principal Secretary K. Jairaj said that with catchment areas not receiving any rainfall, the water level in the hydel reservoirs had reduced. “

Same time last year, we had 4,500 million unit capacity in our reservoirs. We only have one-third (1,500 million units) of that this year.”

Increased consumption

He said that power consumption had increased by around 30 per cent in just a year’s time.

One of the units at the Raichur Thermal Power Station was under maintenance.

“Of the seven units, six are working right now. It is not only Karnataka that is facing a power shortage. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are facing a power crisis,” he added.

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