Prepared to face the monsoon

With the monsoon around the corner, the BESCOM is gearing up to tackle the various problems that the season will bring.

The body is encouraging people to call their helpline in case of a problem and is also taking initiatives to strengthen its capacity so that problems can be solved in a prompt fashion.

Jayanti, the general manager of Corporate Relations, BESCOM, says that the number of lines in the helpline section has been increased from 25 to 30.

“Now, we are ready to take calls from 30 lines. There will be several cases of trees falling and wires sagging during the monsoon.  With the increase in the number of helplines, we should be able to resolve these issues quickly,” she adds.

Along with this, the BESCOM has also started taking all kinds of preventive measures.
   “We have been conducting maintenance work in many areas, especially in the sub-stations. We also have a buffer stock of transformers and conductors. We are changing the aerial bunch cables in places where they are damaged.

Work is also going on to replace damaged distributors. Heavy rains and winds often uproot trees in many areas such as Chamrajpet and Basavangudi — we usually get complaints of poles falling down and hence, we have kept a stock of poles this year so that we can change them immediately,” informs Mahadev, CGM (operations) of BESCOM.

He adds, “The subdivisions in rural Bangalore now have 150 vehicles each to address problems in these areas. The process of complaint redressal will be quicker. Our helplines will be operational 24x7 and we hope that people are prompt in lodging complaints. The linesmen have been provided with safety gear such as helmets, glasses and fluorescent jumpers so that they are safe while tackling hazardous problems.”

Bangaloreans feel that as long as the body is prompt when it comes to complaint redressal, the monsoon shouldn’t bring too many problems. “During the monsoon, water logging in low-lying areas often damages the wires. Small things like this cause power cuts in many areas.

The helpline has been effective in solving critical problems. However, during the monsoon — when accidents happen on every other street — the linesmen generally take a while to arrive if called to repair hanging wires. It would help if they were quick — that can save a lot of time and will prevent many accidents from happening,” says Mayank, a professional.

Magesh, an engineering student, points out that power cuts are very common during the monsoon.

   “It becomes difficult to study as the power cuts are pretty sporadic. We generally have our internals going on during the monsoons and if there is no power, it becomes extremely difficult for us. I would suggest that the BESCOM schedule power cuts in the morning so that we can study in the evenings,”
he states.