BENGALURU: Power cuts are back to haunt Bengalureans. If you thought that excess power demand could be the reason, with many in the city working from home due to the lockdown, it’s the thundershowers and strong winds over the last few days that are to blame. Soon after the downpour on Monday, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) office started receiving complaints from many parts of Bengaluru, such as HSR Layout, Koramanagala, HAL, R T Nagar, Banaswadi and other areas.
“I’m working from home and need to clock in a certain number of hours. With regular power cuts, I am unable to work. I have complained to BESCOM, but it’s been of no use as all they say is that they’re attending to the issue. When the city is under lockdown, proper facilities should be ensured,” said Subhash R, a resident of Murgeshpalya.
Fathima B, a resident of Cox Town, told TNIE, “We are unable to do our office work or chores at home due to the power outages. There was no power all through Monday night. It’s high time the government came up with solutions.”For Karthik L, a resident of Indiranagar, the rain brought much relief from the scorching heat, but the interrupted power supply affected his work.
“The rain brought down the temperature, but BESCOM must ensure, especially right now, that power supply is unaffected,” he said.BESCOM officials told TNIE that the power cuts have been due to technical glitches. Managing director M D Rajesh Gowda said these are ‘unscheduled disruptions’. “There have been snags because of the showers and strong winds. Poles have got damaged because of trees and branches falling. All complaints have been noted and attended to,” Gowda said.
Rain havoc
Heavy rain lashed Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur, Gadag, Koppal, Raichur, Ballari, and other parts of Karnataka over the last 48 hours, damaging standing crops. In many places, in the state, trees and electric poles were uprooted.
Harappanahalli in Ballari district recorded high rainfall of 19 cm, according to the Met department. Bidar recorded 15.2mm and Basaralu in Mandya recorded 4cm of rain. Chikkballapur and adjoining Gauribidanur recorded over 70 mm of rainfall. India Meteorological Depatment Bengaluru director in-charge Dr Geetha Agnihotri said, “Pre-monsoon thundershowers are a regular occurrence seen in April in large parts of Karnataka.’