13-hour power cut disrupts life around Sarjapur Road

Power supply in southeastern Bengaluru, especially in the up-and-coming IT hub of Sarjapur Road, was disrupted for almost 13 hours on Tuesday, hassling residents and business establishments alike.

The power outage began around 5.30 am and lasted until 6.15 pm, affecting an entire day’s productivity.

Dommasandra, Sompura, Yamare, Attibele-Sarjapur Road, Thindlu, Chembenahalli, Kadagraha, Muthanallur and Sarjapur were the affected areas. IT major Wipro Technologies’ Corporate Office located in Carmelaram was also affected.

Sarjapur and the surrounding areas have many educational institutions, six of which are international schools.

They are also home to a number of handloom industries and the corporate offices of multinationals.

Scores of apartment complexes and gated communities also dot the landscape because of the real estate boom.

The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom) and the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) took almost four hours just to determine the technical snag that caused the outage. Rectifying the problem entailed switching off the power supply for hours.

Officials attributed the power interruption to a jump cut in the 220 kV line which then snapped the Mallur line.

A KPTCL engineer cited multiple reasons for the jump cut.

“Farmers had cut tree branches which fell on power cables near Mallur. Since there are many industries near Devarabeesanahalli, the load increased and there was also a snag on the tower.
To rectify all these problems, we had to switch off the supply completely,” the engineer added.

Residents recalled a similar outage had occurred on December 9 between 6 pm and 12.30 am. Bescom officials had also attributed it to a technical snag.

Joy V R, of the Sarjapur Resident Welfare Association, said power disruptions hassled many people, especially senior citizens and children.

“We need uninterrupted power supply because sewage treatment plants, water pump sets, lifts and other utilities in apartments run on electricity,” he added.