Bangalore staring at day-long power cuts

Bangalore staring at day-long power cuts

              The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has not been able to purchase power from other states so far.

Bengaluru, which is facing the worst power crisis of the decade, is gearing up for day-long power cuts on weekends, as the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has not been able to purchase power from other states so far.

As of now, 6 hours of power cuts at irregular intervals have become common in the IT capital of the nation. However, during weekends, as the power consumption is high, the government is planning to impose an 8-10 hours black-out.

Though the government has not made it official, sources in the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) said they were resorting to day-long power cuts to maintain supply in the coming days.

Karnataka had not experienced this kind of power crisis in the last 10 years. As against an installed capacity of 10,189 MW per day (hydro power, thermal & renewable), the state is generating only around 6,300 MW. The demand is more than 12,000 MW per day from individual and industrial consumers.

Many of the reservoirs generating hydro power are almost empty because of poor monsoon this year. To add to the woes, several units of the Raichur Thermal Power Station and Ballari Thermal Power Station are down because of technical snags.

Instead of finding a solution to the end the crisis, Siddaramaiah and his colleagues are indulging in a mud-slinging match with the Opposition parties contending that they fared worse in handling the issue when in power.