Centre's aid sought to tackle power crisis

Shobha seeks supply of coal through alternative routes

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Karandlaje said the Centre should take steps for supply of coal to Karnataka through alternative routes. Coal supply from Singareni Collieries has come to a standstill due to the Telangana stir in Andhra Pradesh.

The present coal stock would exhaust in a few days and the Centre should step in before such exigency, she said.

The Minister said 300 MW of power would be purchased to tide over the shortage. Steps have also been taken to procure 500 MW from Jindal and another 100 MW from Power Trading Corporation. The second units at Udupi and Bellary Thermal Power Station would generate 500 MW each from February next year.

Meanwhile, of the eight units at Raichur Thermal Power Station, power is being  generated at six stations from Friday. None of the units has been functioning to the installed capacity of 210 MW. The RTPS has now a stock of 1.50 metric tonnes of coal. Three units were shutdown on Thursday.

While the third unit has been shutdown for annual maintenance, the eighth unit has not been operational on account of  technical snags. The first and second units which had stopped functioning on Thursday night due to technical faults, resumed generation on Friday morning, sources said.

Sources said the coal supplied from Talcher and West Coal Mines was not of good quality and hence the power stations cannot function to their maximum capacity. Washed coal from Singareni was being used along with that  from Talcher and West Coal Mine till now.

With the supply from Singareni coming to a grinding halt, it has become imperative to depend on poor quality coal, the experts said.

The three units at Mahatma Gandhi hydel power station at Jog are expected to commence generation from Saturday morning.  The generation at these units had come to a halt due to landslide at the four-bay power channels which supplied water to the power station.