BANGALORE: These days protests have truly come of age. On one hand, we have Vatal Nagaraj shouting his lungs out over the erratic power supply in front of the Vidhan Soudha. On the other, the techsavvy Bangaloreans are venting their frustration on the quickest way to get their opinion out - blogs.
Sample this: “I am totally frustrated with the eight-hour power shutdown for the second consecutive Sunday, and possibly the 5th Sunday in the last two months, I wrote to the Chairman of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission since the BESCOM website, true to the nature of its service, says service unavailable,” says a blogger. “The email bounced...
So it seems like a pretty pointless exercise after all. I did manage to file a complaint using the BESCOM site though. But I did not receive any sort of ticket or reference number,” says an update on the site.
While a blogger has suggested tips on how to overcome the electricity woes in the city, another has included electricity and water problems in his list as ‘top five reasons for hating Bangalore.’ “This by all means is bad news for everyone, especially students. Power demands are predominantly met by either hydro or thermal power plants. Though the rain gods blessed most of the region with higher than average rains this year, the demand has been everincreasing.
Because of that power generation plants are now playing safe in consuming water available in various reservoirs,” says another blogger.
A commentary goes this way, “And whats (sic) with the electricity and water problems? Can’t understand is this, the IT hub of India? Even the expats complain. Everyday life gets so damn frustrating.” Stooped over the dying laptop, when many a blogger is tapping away his (or her) woes, officials are holding emergency meetings to improve the situation.
Meanwhile, the bloggers are hoping that the message indeed went across.
jayadevan@epmltd.com