Are power cuts back unofficially?

Are power cuts back unofficially?

Chitra V. Ramani

Several areas are reeling under power cuts

Those working from home bear the brunt

Irregular shutdown aggravating the problem

Bangalore: It is happening again despite the repeated assurances from the Government and officials of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company. Several areas in the city are suffering from irregular power supply and both residents and those working there are getting fed up of such unscheduled power outages as no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming from the service providers.

Lakshmi Balaji, a homemaker and resident of Horamavu, is a harried woman these days. “We are renovating our home. Work is getting stalled because of irregular power supply. There is no electricity supply most afternoons,” she said.

Leela Ashwathnarayana, a resident of Vijayanagar, said the power cuts were not scheduled, which caused inconvenience to working professionals. “I manage my home and a career. As is the case in most households, I store perishable food items in the refrigerator. Because of the irregular power supply, I have had to throw away food as it gets spoiled.”

Revathi R., another hassled working woman, said: “I have turned my fridge knob to maximum and don’t bother to defrost it; at least then the food keeps. There are days when the power supply goes for four or five hours.”

People who work from home are most affected by the irregular supply.

Vinod Prabhakar, a chartered accountant who has a home office in Vishwapriya Layout in Begur, said that on most afternoons, the power supply was cut.

“Coupled with irregular supply is the problem of low voltage. Usually, we get single-phase supply for at least one or two hours a day. We are worried about the effect the low voltage supply will have on the electronic goods,” he said.

He said that complaining about the irregular supply and low voltage to the BESCOM authorities had not helped improve the situation
Shops, hospitals

It is not just homes that are affected. Such erratic power supply is telling on the service provided by shops and even small hospitals.

Sharada Guruprasad, a microbiologist, said that her mother-in-law often complained about the intermittent power supply during the afternoon. “It is terrible for people who are at home all day if the power supply is irregular. As most of our work is dependent on electricity, we feel crippled when there is no power supply even for an hour,” she said.

However, BESCOM officials plead ignorance. A senior official repeatedly maintained that no power shutdown was being enforced in the city.

“We are maintaining 24-hour power supply to all parts of the city. If at all there is power shutdown in an area, it could be because of an unexpected problem at the station or in the transmission lines. Power supply is irregular only because of