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State power crisis turns grim

Special Correspondent

Meeting on Monday to decide on the extent of load shedding

BANGALORE: Dark days are ahead for Karnataka. The ongoing load shedding is all set to be formalised with power crisis getting aggravated in the State because of various factors such as reduction of the State’s unallocated power quota by 100 MW by the Centre. A formal announcement on the load shedding is likely to be made on Monday.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee, headed by Energy Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, will meet on Monday to decide on the extent of load shedding.

Mr. Eshwarappa told presspersons in Bangalore on Friday that the sub-committee would decide the number of hours of load shedding to be enforced in different areas of the State. The duration of load shedding would depend on the rainfall situation by then. He said a formal announcement on the load shedding would help industries to plan their operations suitably. “The power situation is grim.” The storage in the hydel reservoirs of the State might suffice only for 20 to 25 days. It might be necessary to enforce load shedding if there was no good spells of rain in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh has offered to provide power to Karnataka to mitigate the crisis. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who is undergoing naturopathy treatment on the outskirts of Bangalore, assured Mr. Eshwarappa on Friday of providing a minimum of 100 MW of power in 3 or 4 days.

Mr. Eshwarappa requested him to supply 500 MW of power. Dr. Singh said he would hold discussions in this regard with officials concerned.

Dr. Singh told presspersons that although Chattisgarh was facing power shortage, that State still had surplus power during some hours of the day. The State Government has decided to seek an additional allocation of 3,000 MW of power from the Centre from the “allocated share”. At present, the State is getting an allocated share of 1,546 MW of power.

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