No power for next 3 days

No power for next 3 days

Power generation takes a hit as flood cuts off coal supply to Raichur station

Sunitha Rao R. Bangalore

Bangalore will have to celebrate the festival of lights in darkness. Most parts of the city are expected to face unscheduled power cuts for the next three days. On Deepavali eve, many residential localities went without power for 1-3 hours.
The worst hit areas were JP Nagar, Indira Nagar, Jayanagar, Frazer Town, Basavanagudi, Mahalakshmi Layout, Kathriguppe, Malleswaram and HRBR Layout. The power cuts are a result of the floods in north Karnataka, which have affected power generation from the Raichur thermal power station (RTPS).
"The railway lines have been cut off since the floods happened, and goods trains that supply coal to RTPS are unable to reach the power station. Four units at the station have not been functional for the past few days," an official from Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) said. "There is a power shortage of 1,500MW since Friday."
The KPTCL official's version was confirmed by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (BESCOM). "Due to lack of adequate power generation at RTPS and Sharavati hydro power generation station, we are facing a power shortage of 30 per cent," Ashok Angadi, chief engineer, BESCOM, told DNA. The situation would continue to be the same for the next few days till power generation gets streamlined at RTPS, Angadi added.
But Bangaloreans are not very happy with the idea of spending a dark Deepavali. "There was no power for almost the entire day. It is the festival of lights and we do not have power in our houses," said Pallabhi Hazarka, a resident of JP Nagar.
"There was no power for five-six hours in Indiranagar, which is extremely inconvenient during a festival," said another resident.
However, a few like Arun Kumar, a Frazer Town resident, felt there was no reason to complain. "We don't do anything to save power. So there is no reason for us to complain as well," Arun said.