Date:20/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/20/stories/2008112058370300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Power cut is a nightmare for people on outskirts

Chitra V. Ramani

The situation remains grim particularly after 8 p.m.

Many areas on the outskirts of the city do not get power for over six hours a day
Bescom says it is not violating the schedule

Bangalore: While residents of areas within the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits continue to bemoan the two-hour daily power cut, the fate of those on the outskirts is far worse. Many areas on the city’s outskirts do not get power supply for more than six hours a day. This is the situation in spite of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company’s (Bescom) promise of providing quality power for most part of the day.

Residents of Anjananagar, Vidyaranyapura, Green Park Layout, ISRO Layout, Yelahanka, Hebbal, Siddapura, Puttenahalli and Ramamurthynagar are at their wits’ end. Most of them complained to The Hindu that power supply was erratic at best.

Residents of Vidyaranyapura complained that the area did not have power supply for at least four to five hours a day. Nina Babu, a homemaker, said the irregular power supply had made it very difficult for her to manage her household. “My one-year-old twins rest only if the fan is switched on. They start bawling if the power goes off during their nap-time. Owing to irregular supply, I am not able to pump water into the overhead tank and have to wait for the power supply to come back to do so,” she said.

Usha Rao, a homemaker at Puttenahalli, said: “I watch a Kannada serial at 7 p.m. every day. I eagerly wait for that and it is precisely at that time that the power supply is cut. Also, the power supply is often cut many times during the afternoon.”The power situation in areas that do not come under the BBMP limits is no better. Lakshmi Pashupathy, a homemaker and resident of Janapriya Layout, said that there was power supply from 9 a.m. to noon and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. “Apart from these ‘fixed times,’ power supply is cut anytime between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and after 8 p.m. When it goes off, we are not sure when the supply will resume,” she said.

However, senior officials of Bescom claimed that the power utility was not violating the load shedding schedule. An official said that the utility was cutting power supply for four hours in areas coming under Bangalore Rural limits and two hours in areas coming under the BBMP limits. “The power situation is under control. As and when we get more power allocation, we will supply to the industrial units in rural limits,” the official added.