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Examination centres in southern districts to get uninterrupted power
Qualifying round: A student writing the Plus Two examination at a school in Madurai.
MADURAI: Standard XII students in the southern districts of Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Dindigul and Theni can breathe easy as the frequent power interruptions that haunted them during practical examinations will not occur in their written tests.
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has initiated steps to ensure that power shutdown does not occur in areas where public examination centres are located, according to its Chief Engineer (Distribution) of Madurai Region, K. Balasubramanian.
“We have sought a list of examination centres and the schedule from the Education Department to exempt those areas from load shedding during examination time,” he said here on Monday.
More than 25,000 students will appear for the examinations this year from March 3 at 62 centres in the three educational districts of Madurai, Melur and Usilampatti. The total requirement of the region, which comprises Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Dindigul and Theni districts, stood at 850 MW on Sunday. For the entire State, the requirement was around 9,000 MW. On Sunday, Mr. Balasubramanian said, the shortfall was only 75 MW for the Madurai Region as many commercial establishments remained shut. On peak hours in week days, it climbed to around 200 MW. To bridge this gap, independent power projects in the region had been asked to generate more power.
“Six private sector players in Ramanathapuram generate a total of 290 MW through biomass and gas turbine units and have a total installed capacity of 321 MW. They have been asked to utilise their full capacity,” he said. Similarly, operators in other districts have also been asked to generate additional power.
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