Bescom’s reforms programme grounded

Bescom’s reforms programme grounded
The Times of India

Bangalore: Two years after it began, Bescom’s centrally-funded Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) is nowhere near completion.

The project, aimed at improving quality of power and reliability of supply, had a December 2004 deadline. But as of now it is only 80 per cent through. For that matter, a related scheme to fix ‘whole-current’ meters has not even begun. Yet, Bescom officials say they have spent Rs 232 crore on groundwork (literally, in this case) to augment the system.
When Bescom started digging trenches to lay its power lines last year, it even got into a slanging match with Bangalore City Corporation (BCC). The latter accused it of not re-doing dug-up roads properly.

Improved power supply: The APDRP scheme aims, among other things, to improve customer satisfaction and quality of power, increase reliability of supply, and adopt a systems approach with MIS (Management Information Systems).
But in the past couple of weeks in Bangalore alone, there have been frequent power cuts, especially whenever it rains. Since the city yields Bescom most of its Rs 200 crore-Rs 300 crore monthly revenues, it is supposed to be assured power supply 24/7. Now, irate customers complain that things are going from bad to worse. For that matter, Bescom’s computerisation programme has not taken off well either. Faulty bills continue to be issued.

Costs: Another aspect of the APDRP scheme is that there are different versions on how much money is actually involved in it. According to the ministry of power website — http://powermin.nic.in — Bescom is supposed to get Rs 411.25 crore as ‘project cost.’ The site says, till March 31, this year, Rs 275.83 crore has been ‘utilised.’

But, according to Bescom, the company is to get Rs 372 crore under APDRP. “The money is being used for several packages — one to lay power lines, another to meter distribution transformers,’’ says N.S. Kumaraswamy, Chief Engineer, Bangalore Metropolitan Area Zone (BMAZ).

According to him, Bescom has short-listed three companies: Secure Meters Private Limited, Genus Overseas Electronics and another one, under its meter package. One of the three has already done several turnkey APDRP projects in Kerala, Jharkhand and Assam. “For the line-laying work, we had short-listed ABB, L&T, SPML, Deepak Cables and Alstom. They will finish the work shortly,’’ he adds.

But will that lead to better power supply in the city? Bangaloreans beg to disagree.