Good rains, but poor power supply in State

Most areas in rural Karnataka reel under darkness

There are 2,500 feeders in the rural areas of the State. Deccan Herald did a reality check of 2,215 of them and found at least 1,000 unfit to supply three-phase power even for six hours. The condition of the remaining feeders is not any better. At many places, rains have caused technical glitches in power supply. The cause for concern, however, is the quality of power supply at “better-off” places, informed sources say.

The ground reality is very different from what the government promised — it has not been able to supply power for six hours under three-phase. Most places get power only for four or five hours. In contrast, single-phase power is being supplied for 10 hours only after rains started.

Farmers in districts with a large number of pumpsets such as Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagara, Chitradurga, and Davangere are still dependent on
groundwater because of insufficient rainfall.

Although Malnad and coastal Karnataka have received good rainfall, shortage of pumpsets is posing problems for farmers.

P Manivannan, Managing Director of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), admitted that problems in the distribution of power might have worsened the situation. However, power was being supplied for at least a few hours daily, he asserted.

As a temporary measure, the government will buy 100 MW electricity from the Power Trading Corporation at Rs 3.5 per unit for 15 days. Besides, tenders have been invited for supplying 500 MW power for two years, beginning September 2, 2011. The response to the previous tender called on June 1 was not satisfactory. Hence, tender was called afresh. If the State faces power shortage even after buying 500 MW another 500 MW would be purchased from the Power Trading Corporation.

The demand for power had reached 170 million units daily during summer. It has, however, come down to 125-130 million units now.

A total of 30 million units of power was being generated now. Stages five and six of the Raichur Thermal Power Plant had been shut for annual repair. The Udupi Power Plant was producing 230 MW.

Shimoga more equal

When it comes to power supply, one district in the State is certainly more equal than others.

Shimoga, the home district of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, has been getting almost round-the-clock power supply. So much so there is no distinction between the urban and rural areas in the district.

According to a senior official in the Department of Power, unlike other districts where there is a clear categorisation of urban and rural areas, villages and towns and cities in Shimoga district get uninterrupted power for 22-23 hours every day. With an increase in generation of wind power during the ongoing month of Ashadha, the availability of power is expected to rise considerably. During Ashadha, a maximum of 1,300 MW power is generated from wind sources.