BENGALURU: Faced with a severe power shortage, the State Energy Ministry is considering drastic steps to tide over the crisis.
As per a proposal, while Bengalureans will continue to face peak-hour power shutdown till January, the districts that come under the purview of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) are likely to get seven hours of three-phase power on alternate days.
Speaking to newsmen after chairing a consultative meeting of elected representatives from the BESCOM supply districts here on Wednesday, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said that though there was no consensus at the meeting on alternate-day power supply, they have plans to go ahead with it considering the severe power crisis.
“The new schedule will be announced shortly,” he said. The minister has plans to hold such consultative meetings with elected representatives in regions coming under other electricity supply companies — HESCOM (Hubballi), GESCOM (Kalaburagi) and MESCOM (Mangaluru).
The minister already has held a meeting with MLAs, MPs and elected representatives of other urban and local bodies in the CHESCOM (Mysuru) region. The districts which come under BESCOM region, excluding BBMP region, are Chitradurga, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Ramanagaram and Davanagere.
“We are presently facing a daily shortage of over 1,800MW,” Shivakumar said.
However, continued power supply would be ensured to pumping stations of drinking water projects in the region, he said.
Referring to the four-hour peak-hour power shutdown in Bengaluru, he said that it will continue till January as the state has plans to buy additional power of over 1,000MW.
“Once we are assured of getting the additional power, the existing peak-hour shutdown will be removed,” he added.
He said that in order to ensure supply of power during study hours for students, they have decided not to utilise the stored water in hydel power reservoirs till January.
According to sources, several legislators, who participated in the meeting, shot down the proposal of having alternate-day power supply.
An MLA belonging to the ruling party at the meetingtold Express that the ruling party may face the backlash of voters in the coming rural local bodies elections if the government goes ahead with the proposal.