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Monday, Apr 27, 2009
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Agony of citizens more acute now

Swathi.V

Increased instances of blackouts now after lifting of power cuts

HYDERABAD: Despite relief from scheduled power cuts, citizens continue to be at the receiving end with their agonies multiplied as they no longer seem to have the privilege of “informed” blackouts.

“On Saturday, we had power cuts seven times ranging from half-an-hour to two hours. Feeder problem…emergency load relief were some of the reasons given but with no prior intimation we were caught off guard,” fumes K.Lakshmi Narasaiah, a resident of Hanumannagar near Dilsukhnagar.

‘No difference’

Even core areas are not spared from the haphazard shutdowns. N.Anitha, a resident of Kundanbagh, complains that she could hardly see any difference before and after the scheduled load relief, except in the timings and duration.

“Earlier, we used to have a single power cut scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. Now we have no clue about the timings, the number of times, or the duration of blackouts. The length of each shutdown has shortened, yet the number of blackouts in a day has increased,” she says.

In the days of scheduled load reliefs, officials religiously maintained the sanctity of nights and most often avoided blackouts after 6 p.m. The rollback in power cuts was like issuing them a licence to go ahead with their nightly torture.

Sporadic blackouts

“Since the very next day after lifting of scheduled power cuts, we have been experiencing sporadic blackouts during night. Though they are of short durations, it is difficult to manage with disturbed sleep,” complains C.Chaitanya, a student from Vanasthalipuram. Officials cite technical glitches and emergency load relief as reasons for the power cuts. “It is the usual practice to stop power supply to a few areas when loads exceed a feeder’s capacity. Excessive loads sometimes result in breakdown of transformers too,” is the official explanation.

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