Power cuts begin to bite citizens in Bangalore

BANGALORE: Last week, energy minister DK Shivakumar announced there would be no power cuts this summer. Before citizens could make sense of his statement, their homes were in dark. "Last week, power cuts started as early as 7am. They occur every two hours. There's erratic supply till 6pm. Electrical equipment in homes will give up if this continues. What irks us more than the power cuts is the attitude of Bescom engineers. The local engineer says power cuts will last the whole of summer," complains senior citizen Vishwanathan S, who lives at Laughing Waters, a gated community in Ramagondanahalli, near Whitefield. E T Ponnukuttan, secretary of the Richards Town Citizens' Association, debunks the minister's claim. "We cannot believe that a utility seeks tariff revisions despite such inconsistent power supply," he told TOI. Frequent power cuts trouble Shanthamma Bagalkotkar, an Austin Town resident. Her younger daughter, 14, who suffered a paralytic attack eight years ago, cannot bear the heat. "I have no money to buy an air cooler. Bedridden, she gets blisters on her back every summer. I cannot bear her wails," Shanthamma told TOI. Pushpa Singh, a Sanjaynagar homemaker, says: "My daughter gets an excuse to not study when there is a power cut. My niece and nephew are here for their vacation. I can't let them out to play in the summer heat. They watch TV, and whenever there is a power cut, they get upset." Really, Mister minister?  The power situation is better than it was in the past 10 years. Supply has exceeded demand. While the demand is 168 million units, production and availability is 208 MU. D K Shivakumar | Energy minister, On April 22  It's a question of citizens' safety, says Bescom head  While Bangaloreans are furious over repeated power cuts, Bescom pleads helplessness, saying safety of citizens is most important. Bescom managing director Pankaj Kumar Pandey said: "Maintenance work was postponed because of the exam season during March-April . It must be completed before the onset of monsoon. Some maintenance work is undertaken by KPTC. Tree branches are being trimmed now. During monsoon , branches hanging over high-tension lines can lead to accidents. For this, we have to take line clearance — meaning shutting down power. This will cause some inconvenience. But it's a question of safety." Times view  Polls over, promises are broken, which is hardly surprising. Power cuts are back to make it a harsher summer. Bescom claims it's carrying out maintenance work before the monsoon begins. Fair enough, but the consumer is entitled to some sort to quality power supply. Arbitrary outages throughout the day and night can leave the consumer frustrated. Bescom should also ensure that cuts are minimal at night. Since this is a seasonal issue, the power utility should look at shoring up energy during times of excess, and citizens should look at tapping solar power, which is in abundance. -TOI