Power cuts are back to haunt Bangaloreans.
The onset of summer has led to intermittent power cuts in several areas of the City throughout the night and sometimes during the day, affecting everyone, especially students.
Subhash, a resident of Belandur, says that there are power cuts throughout the day in his area as well as in surrounding areas on the Outer Ring Road.
“Nothing can be worse than a power cut just when one has come home after work. We have been facing power cuts very frequently. About a week ago, we had no power throughout the night and the heat was unbearable. It was never so bad earlier. There is no response when we call the BESCOM helpline,” he notes.
Citizens point out that there is hardly any intimation by BESCOM regarding load shedding or power cut and that makes the problem worse.
“If they announce that there will be a power cut in these areas at a particular time, we can plan our day and compete our daily chores. We can switch on the pump and store water. But if there is a power cut everyday, we are helpless. We had no power throughout the day for a couple of days last week and that has resulted in water scarcity,” says Shwetha, a home-maker.
The BESCOM officials say that technical snags and heavy load on the transmitters are leading to frequent power cuts.
Transmission problem could also be one of the reasons.
“These are mainly unscheduled power cuts which happen due to feeder faults, tripping, transmission problems etc. We look into all these technical faults as soon as we get the complaints from a particular area.The BESCOM has not been resorting to any load shedding,” says Jayanthi, the manager of public relations, BESCOM.
Though the BESCOM officials say that the power cuts are because of technical snags and rains, Bangaloreans assert that such frequent power cuts may not be because of technical snags alone.
“Either the BESCOM is not attending to the problem or there is shortage of power. These unannounced power cuts are happening all over the City and most of us have to keep our work on hold,” says Sunil, a resident of Padmanabhanagar .
Power cuts have also affected students who are preparing for various competitive exams.
Students say that the duration of power cuts is long and because of that, their studies suffer.
“These sudden power cuts disturb our entire schedule and there is no option but to keep our books aside and wait for the power to return. It breaks our
concentration and focus,” says Pavan, a student.