JOIN USHe told Deccan Herald that the four-five hours of power cut in the City was due to sudden increase in demand.
“Power consumption has suddenly shot up across the State. The groundwater table is depleting while water has to be pumped from borewells to meet the demand. Water and power shortage have become endemic and deep-rooted problems,” he said.
The official said Section 11 of the Electricity Act has been invoked from Thursday to make private power producers to compulsorily sell power to the State. From Thursday midnight, Jindal and co-generation units have been selling 315 MW and 200 MW respectively to the State. In addition, 200 MW would be purchased from Gujarat from April 13, he said. The situation in other States is no better, he added.
S M Jaamdar, Managing Director, KPCL said all the seven units of RTPS are functioning normally. “KPCL is maintaining its normal generation of 80 to 85 MU a day. But the demand is very high. I am also a victim of power shortage like anybody in Bangalore,” he said.
While the City is facing severe load-shedding this summer, people are demanding that there be at least a semblance of regularity in these cuts. Nagabhushan MS, a resident of Sundernagar, JP Park ward, said that the power cuts, which are as frequent as three or four times a day, have affected people terribly, more so when it goes unannounced. The power supply had been going off as early as 6 am for the last two days, posing a problem to those going to work.
Asha Subramanya, a home maker, said she was not as much annoyed at the power cuts itself as to their unscheduled nature. "We cannot plan our daily chores" she said.
Meenal, a resident from Jalahalli, who doesn't have a UPS at home, was intending to buy one now after experiencing the unscheduled and irregular load shedding.