Power cuts likely for maintenance work

City residents can expect scheduled power cuts in the coming days as Bescom plans to carry out maintenance work.

The maintenance is to prepare the ground for the forthcoming monsoon season, which Bescom could not carry out earlier due to elections and exams for schools and colleges. With pre-monsoon showers drenching the city, the power company is hastened to start the maintenance, essential to ensure no calamities on account of creaky power infrastructure.

“This’ll lead to power cuts,” said Bescom’s director-technical G Ashok Kumar. “People will be informed of power cuts beforehand.”

Scheduling power cuts across the city was among the decisions made at the day-long monsoon preparedness meeting held with engineers and officials. This is also the first meeting Bescom has held after Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara asked heads of all departments to do everything they can to stop the city from getting flooded during the monsoon.

Bescom surveyed all the hazardous points in the city’s power infrastructure from where power is being tapped and accidents occur. Kumar said the power firm would finalise this list by May second week and share it with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials.

Bescom also decided that power will be turned off at places where it notices misappropriation or faults and the company will penalise the offender. Managing Director C Shikha said the meeting was held to ensure there are no untoward incidents.

It decided to hire 1800 to 1900 local chief engineers and gangmen as additional staff. It also added 15 new phonelines to the existing 30 to address public grievances and receive complaints.

Officials said 2153 trees are trimmed, 448 poles rectified and 363 transformers refurbished as part of pre-monsoon preparation.

The state government, meanwhile, formed a committee on Tuesday to prevent a repeat of the flooding that happened in 2018. The committee is made of Additional Chief Secretary (home), Principal Secretary (disaster management cell), Regional Commissioner (Mysuru) and Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.