JOIN USKERC questioned if electricity was being supplied all through the night and if 11 hours of power was being supplied. Also, it questioned if interruption of electricity was intimated either in newspapers or put on website, a week before the maintenance work was undertaken.
Airing their grievances, C A Subbaiah of Kodagu District Small Growers Association said that in Siddapur section electricity is denied for nearly eight days in a month. He demanded why the coffee growers were not being given free electricity supply for irrigation.
Cesc failing to have transmission licence came up when Suresh Kumar Jain raised the issue.
He sought to know as to why Cesc had refrained from collecting pending bills from grama panchayats, zilla panchayat and public sector units. This would help reduce the costs, he added. Theertha Mallesh of Hassan complained that regular power cuts occurred for two to three days in a month. The KERC based on an objection from Captain Hussain urged Cesc managing director Bore Gowda to advise the Mysore City Corporation on streetlights.
KERC chairman M R Srinivas Murthy said there are scientifically defined standards according to which streetlights have to be placed at a certain distance from each other. Haphazard placement of streetlights would increase usage. He said automatic timers should be used to ensure that lights are switched on after dark and switched off early in the morning.
Compensation doesn’t help...
Srirangapatna taluk panchayat president Sridhar was the only elected representative to appear at the KERC public hearing. He sought at least 12 hours of three-phase electricity supply in the district. He said that as 80 per cent of people in Mandya district were farmers, he demanded that power supply be increased for them to carry out irrigation work. Also, he sought an increase in compensation.
He said that recently a boy had died when an electric pole had fallen on the latter. But, by giving a meagre compensation, injustice is being meted out to the family, seeking stern action against the officials responsible for such incidents.