Several areas in Bangalore reported unscheduled power cuts lasting an hour on Monday. The situation is expected to continue in the city and other parts of the State for a few more days. The State is currently facing a shortage of around 1,200 MW as three major thermal power stations are functioning at reduced capacities for the past five days.
According to a senior official, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) on Monday evening was facing a shortage of 600 MW. “We expect a reduction in demand as the next two days are government holidays,” he said.
According to KPTCL, one of the units at the Raichur Thermal Power Station of 210 MW capacity was shut down on December 19 due to boiler leakage. Another unit was already undergoing annual maintenance and this led to only 24.571 million units being generated from six units. On the same day, Udupi Power Corporation (UPCL) also did not generate any power and this led to a shortage in the State.
According to Energy Department officials, one unit of the Bellary Thermal Power Station is also not functional currently and it is estimated that it would take two days to fix. UPCL has started generation of power but it is currently functioning at half its capacity of 1,200 MW. “One unit of RTPS will be fixed by Monday evening and will start generation,” an official said.
The power situation in rural areas has been affected as a result and load shedding has been increased in villages. Farmers in Mysore district complained that they did not have power to irrigate sugarcane and turmeric. “They have been giving us two hours of power out of which there is a cut every 20 minutes or so. The water that we draw through the pumpset goes back to where it was and our crops remain dry. If this continues, we will have to resort to strikes,” said Kempegowda, a farmer in Belkere hobli.
Power cuts of around one hour are also being implemented in cities like Hubli, Gulbarga among others.