Frequent power cuts wipe sunny city’s smile

Frequent interruptions in power supply in addition to the two-hour power cuts spoiled the Sunday for a large number of citizens in the city.

The APTransco and Central Discom officials could not adhere to the load relief schedule issued by them on Saturday.

Residents of Sivam, Bagh Amberpet, Central Excise Colony, Padma Colony, Nallakunta, Khairatabad and its surrounding areas complained of power supply going kaput on more than three times besides the regular two-hour shutdown.

Though officials claimed that any disruption in power supply outside the power cut timings may be due to local technical problems, the complaint register of the centralised complaint cell at Vidyut Soudha, official headquarters of state electricity board, reveals otherwise.

As many as 4,000 complaints of power failure were lodged on Sunday from Greater Hyderabad alone. On an average the number of complaints per day until last week was 3,000 only. These complaints also include grievances pertaining to regular power cuts.

Mr G. Sambasiva Rao, an RTC employee and resident of Sivam Road area, said: “We had two power cuts of one-hour duration each, once in the morning and the other before 5 pm. However, there was no relief thereafter. Power supply was affected thrice, once for 15 minutes, the next half an hour and the third time for 20 minutes between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm. Even worse was that the 155333 complaint cell number was perennially busy.”

But Central Discom director of operations, Mr B. Ravindra Reddy said they were strictly adhering to the power cut schedule.

“Any other interruptions in supply should not be assumed as power cuts. This is summer and there is possibility of technical glitches in transmission infrastructure and those are being rectified in less than an hour,” he said.