HYDERABAD: Power cuts are back to haunt the residents of Telangana, especially its capital city Hyderabad, though they are not being termed as such by electricity board officials. With SSC and Intermediate exams around the corner, parents and students are worried a lot as their studies are being disrupted due to the undeclared power cuts both in the afternoon and evening. Many residents of the twin cities said that they had experienced at least two to three power cuts on Saturday which was frustrating because there was no warning. Sai Krishna, an Intermediate student from Balkampet tweeted: “The sudden power cuts are disrupting our studies.
I hope there are no outages at least till our exams are completed.” “Sir/Madam, there is a power cut in my area Ram Reddy Nagar, IDPL Colony Chintal. Could you please look into it?” tweeted Jagmohan Singh in desperation, after his efforts to contact the local substation proved futile. Another denizen from the city’s western part, Kondapur said: “Today, power has been cut thrice in Kondapur, Hyderabad. Sometimes what we speak in public might be different in reality (sic)”, Siva Prathap tweeted in a veiled reference to IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao’s speech at the CREDAI meet.
Rama Rao had taken a dig at neighbouring Andhra Pradesh saying citizens there were suffering because of power cuts while there were none in Telangana. Apart from Hyderabad, most other parts of the States have been reporting intermittent outages. The problems are widespread in rural areas where farmers get 24x7 free power. Several areas across the erstwhile Warangal district too reported facing power outages.
Transco officials blame power outages on repair works
Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSNPDCL) authorities said these were due to maintenance works and other managementrelated works in the agricultural sector. However, B Sagar Kumar of Ghanpur said that TSNPDCL authorities have started cutting power for two hours every day, but when asked, they cite transformer or other such repair works as the reason. Though officials in Karimnagar deny much disruption in power supply, residents disagree. Karimnagar TSNPDCL SE V Gangadhar said that there are no power cuts in the district. “Presently, 8 MU is being consumed daily, and it’s on the decline as well. For harvesting, farmers don’t require the irrigation pump sets, which has eased demand.”
In Karimnagar, power cuts twice a week, say citizens
However, V Gopikrishna, a resident of Katta Rampur in Karimnagar, claimed that there is no power for about four hours at least twice every week. In erstwhile Medak district, Transco officials cut power to farms from 5 pm to 11 pm. However, urban consumers say that power is cut at least 10 times, for about 20 minutes each. K Malla Reddy, a farmer of Kandukur village in erstwhile Khammam district, said that the government is supplying power for the farm sector only for nine hours daily. “Power cuts have been taking place three to four times daily for the last three days,” said V Srinivas of Bhadrachalam town. As compared to villages, less power cuts are reported from the district headquarters Khammam. Transco Superintendent K Ramesh denied any reports of power cuts. “Maintenance and increased usage of air-conditioners increases the load on a transformer, leading to tripping at times,” he explains. Moreover, with the IMD predicting that the current heat wave will continue, citizens expect the situation to get worse as the demand will only increase.
Four to Five hours in Nagarkurnool, Wanaparthy
People in Amrabad, Padara and Achampet mandals in Nagarkurnool district say that domestic power cuts last 4-5 hours a day, spread across the afternoon and night. In the rural areas of Jogulamba Gadwal district, outages are staggered, for 20-30 minutes at a time, several times during the day. Veeresh, a resident of Alampur, says that these short-duration power cuts may add-up to four hours a day. Even across Wanaparthy district, people have been experiencing power cuts ranging from one to two-and-half hours. Interestingly, Nizamabad is one of the few districts in the State where residents say they haven’t been experiencing many power outages. Nizamabad TSNPDCL Superintending Engineer R Ravindar said, “There have been no power cuts in Nizamabad recently. The power demand has come down because paddy harvesting is in full swing. The nominal electricity demand in the agriculture sector has helped us ensure uninterrupted power supply.”
No deficit in supply, says TSSPDCL
The Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana (TSSPDCL) said there were no cuts in Telangana. “On Friday, the demand was 204.566 MU and there was no deficit. Today’s demand will be known at the end of the day and we can reveal it tomorrow,” a TSSPDCL official said. He too said that the disruptions are due to repairs or maintenance works.
Govt hasn’t paid subsidy, says Genco official
A senior TSGENCO official, on condition of anonymity, admitted that the power outages have become frequent, but insisted that the disruptions in supply had more to do with non-maintenance of transformers and power lines as State government has failed to release power subsidy amounts.