HYDERABAD: As summer peaks, followed by a substantial rise in the demand for power, power cuts ranging from six to 10 hours are being witnessed in the State’s agricultural sector. Farmers say that the three-phase power supply was being stopped from 6 pm to 12 pm daily, as against the government’s commitment to provide 24x7 uninterrupted power supply. However, there have been no power cuts in the domestic and industrial sectors so far in Telangana.
Though the State government has not made any official announcement regarding power cuts in the agriculture sector, Discom officials reveal that the restricted power supply is due to a rise in the demand for power in summer. According to Nizamabad District Superintending Engineer (SE), they supplied power to agriculture connections for seven hours on Thursday, from 9.50 am to 4.50 pm.
Electricity officials will decide power cut timings for the agricultural sector on a daily basis from Friday depending on the demand for power in the district and also on the availability of power in the exchanges. In other districts too, officials are following the same thumb rule. Some farmers say that power cuts at night would be better since there would be no adverse impact on the standing crops.
The harvesting of Rabi crop has begun in some districts and farmers require water for another 10 days at least. TS Transco Chairman and MD D Prabhakar Rao wasn’t available for comment with regard to the power cuts in the agriculture sector. At present, the State’s daily power demand is around 250 million units.