Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

People reeling under frequent power disruptions

– Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Gales on Wednesday night left a trail of destruction in Guntur district and a large branch of a tree fell on a car in Devapuram in Guntur city.

GUNTUR: For people of the district reeling under oppressive heat conditions, the unscheduled power cuts have only added to their misery.

Frequent disruptions in power supply have been making the life uncomfortable for many.

If the scarcity of power is one side of the coin, the frequency of heavy gales uprooting electric poles has too become a worrying factor leading to power disruptions.

Senior officials of the Southern Power Distribution Company Limited have attributed the frequent load shedding due to the non-availability of power in the central grid.

With the three power distribution companies snapping the Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with the private firms, the availability of power in the State has come down drastically from 3,100 Mu to just about 2,100-2,300 Mu.

At a recent meeting held with Chief Minister in Hyderabad, the three distribution companies expressed their helplessness in meeting the exorbitant costs of the PPAs. The Finance Department refused to heed to requests from distribution companies to allot Rs.10,000 crore to meet the existing PPAs and future needs and instead said that it could allot only Rs.5,000 crore.

The distribution companies were left with no alternative but to snap the PPAs from June 6.

The sweltering heat conditions meant that the peak demand for the month of June has gone ahead to 8 million units (Mu) per day as against the available quota of 7.5 Mu.

“We are rationing the power supply in view of the power shortage. With the 500 MW fourth phase of VTPS Thermal Power station expected to be fully operational by the end of June, we expect the situation to ease,” SPDCL, S.E, K. Raja Bapaiah said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, heavy gales have caused considerable damage to the power infrastructure uprooting about 480 poles in parts abutting Tenali, Duggirala and Vemuru. Power has not been restored to parts of Medikonduru mandal.

On Wednesday alone, heavy gales uprooted 50 poles in Kollur mandal.

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