It'll be powerless weekends for 6 month: Bengaluru minister

BENGALURU: If you are a resident of Whitefield, Koramangala, Yelahanka or their adjoining areas and plan to host house parties over the weekends, you might need to think again. Energy minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday categorically said that vast swathes of Bengaluru will have to bear with power cuts every weekend for the next few months. Faced with a volley of questions about erratic power supply in several parts of the city last weekend, the minister admitted that KPTCL and Bescom were dealing with major issues, particularly in eastern and southern Bengaluru. "Lines supplying power to eastern and southern parts of the city are overloaded. We have to take up replacement works in these areas. Therefore, we have decided to call for scheduled power cuts every Saturday and Sunday," Shivakumar said. However, he didn't set a deadline for energy supplying agencies to complete the work. Shivakumar claimed the information was passed on to the media 24 hours prior to last weekend's power disruption. According to Bescom MD Pankaj Pandey, KPTCL and Bescom have jointly taken up works in these areas and it'll take three to six months to finish the same. "Places like Whitefield, Koramangala and Yelahanka are seeing massive developments leading to increased demand in power supply. However, electricity infrastructure in these areas hasn't been revamped; it was high time we undertook replacement work. Presently, we are replacing lines and conductors in the Yelahanka—Sahakarnagar division and should be able to finish work within 60 days. Other areas will take three to six months, depending on the complexity of work," he said. Taking out power from the grid during week days would have affected offices, schools and other utilities. Therefore, following a recent meeting with resident welfare associations, educational institutions and other stakeholders, the agencies decided to switch off power every Saturday, Pandey said. He said Yelahanka will have to put up with two hours of power cut each during the day and night on Saturdays. "In west Bengaluru, rainfall has been leading to power outages," he said. Helpless helplines: Bescom MD Pankaj Pandey admitted that every time there's a downpour, helplines get jammed, making it difficult for citizens to lodge complaints. "We have added more lines to the helpline number (1912). Every day, we receive 600-700 calls from Bengaluru alone because of which the lines are often found to be busy," he said. -TOI