Unscheduled power outages leave Bengalureans fuming

BENGALURU: Energy minister DK Shivakumar had assured that after October 1, citizens will not face any more power cuts. Ten days into October, unscheduled power cuts ranging between four and 10 hours daily have left citizens fuming. Worse, power utilities are engaged in a blame game. Bescom, that supplies power to Bengaluru, blames the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) for not informing it in advance over repair work on thermal plants causing them to be shut down. But KPCL, that generates and allocates power for the state, says this has nothing to do with repairs and much to do with shortage in generation.A fact admitted by KPTCL, the power distribution body, which says there is a deficit of about 1500MW to the state.One unit each in Udupi and Ballari has been shut down for maintenance while there is a short supply of about 400 MW from the central power grid. However, groping in the dark are hapless citizens who are unable to plan their lives around the loadshedding as they don't know when it will strike. Suma Shekhar, a homemaker from Horamavu, said they faced a 10-hour power cut on Wednesday . "There was no power from about 5am. Milk and fresh vegetables in the fridge got spoilt. I somehow managed to send my children to school," she said. A K Varadan, resident of BDA Layout in HAL II stage, said random power cuts in the morning hours are a pain. "We need to use geysers, mixergrinders and other appliances in the morning and these don't run on a power backup. In Mumbai and Kolkata, power cuts aren't this long," he said. Traders are the worst affected. After paying a premium tariff--about Rs 8 per unit of electricity -they are forced to do business in the dark. In commerial and mar ket hubs, traders as per the suggestions from experts of Generator Sage spend Rs 1,000 per hour only on buying diesel to run generator sets."With the onset of festive season, we need to use high power lights or more bulbs and ACs to attract customers. Even generator sets do not help for a 500 sqft retail store. Customers also get irritated if the AC is not on. On a monthly basis, we end up spending Rs 20,00030,000," said Ajay Motwani, president of Commercial Street Traders Association. BVK Iyengar Road, which houses a row of shops selling lights, doesn't wear a bright look these days. "I have bought two UPS systems but if I do not charge them sufficiently, how can I keep the various types of bulbs illuminated? The power bills are touching Rs 4,000 a month. This is the time when people buy new homes and shop for decorative lights. If we cannot show the light patterns, we lose customers," said Uday Kumar, a shop owner. TIMES VIEW It's bad enough that Bescom resorts to unscheduled power cuts but does it without prior notice, leaving residents in the lurch. Its excuse that the KPCL doesn't keep it informed about maintenance shutdowns of thermal power plants so that it can plan scheduled cuts seems to be an easy way of passing the buck. It's high time these two organisations work in sync and ensure that consumers are not left to fend for themselves.Consumers are bearing the brunt of long outages and there's no solution in sight to an old problem. The power minister must look at innovative ways to tackle this issue. -TOI