2-hr power cuts back as supply plummets

Daily two-hour power cuts are back in the city less than a month after they were withdrawn, and will continue indefinitely.

In the last couple of days, there have been power shutdowns in areas under 10 to 15 sub-stations at a time every one hour. The power cuts have become inevitable as there is a shortage of 120 mw every one hour.

The power shortage is mainly due to technical problems in the Kothagudem and Vijayawada thermal power stations.

The demand for power from the agriculture sector, too, has shot up during the ongoing kharif season. And the city's insatiable demand for power has increased from 19 million units in the first week of June to over 25 million units from June 26.

“There is no option but to take load relief. If we (central Discom) do not do so then power supply will be stopped from the 132 kv sub-station in order maintain frequency,” the Central Discom chief general manager (Metro Zone), Mr Sharat Chandra, told this correspondent.

Local problems have exacerbated the situation, such as the collapse of the 220 kv line tower due to blasting work for the Outer Ring Road at Shamirpet a week ago. On Monday, due to a cable fault at Nampally sub-station, several areas around exhibition grounds, Nampally, AC Guards, VN Colony and Shantinagar went without power.

Power supply is also switched off for as long as four hours at a stretch when trees have to be trimmed, something that really tests the patience of the long-suffering public.