Date:08/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010858350300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Gear up for power cuts in city

Staff Reporter

Outages may be extended to industries as well

Agricultural demand has gone up by 1000 MW during the past one month
Move on power cuts in city awaits nod from higher authorities

HYDERABAD: City might go through yet another harrowing round of power cuts very soon, as the long-dreaded supply crunch becomes a reality. Already, residents on the city outskirts are experiencing load reliefs to the extent of two to three hours for the past three days.

According to an official from CPDCL, the proposal to extend power cuts to the whole of the city awaits a nod from the higher authorities.

“We have been implementing emergency load reliefs for the past few days due to the bleak supply position. Extension of the same to the entire city might be required very soon. A proposal to this effect will be placed before the CMD, who will take the final decision,” said the official.

What he terms as ‘emergency load relief’ could actually be a planned outage if the timings of the power cut are any indication.

“We have been experiencing regular power cuts from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Till yesterday, the helpline assistant cited technical glitches as the reason for the blackouts. But today, he openly declared that it was a power cut and it would continue in future too,” says Ramachandrachary, a resident of Kothapet.

“The power cut might be extended to the industries too. We are going to place a formal request to all the IT companies to rely on their generators for two hours in a day,” informs the official.

Orders from the APTransco to plug the consumption at 3400 MW seems to have triggered off the power cuts. While the present demand from CPDCL hovers around 4200 MW, it is brought down to 3700 MW after the scheduled cuts in the rural areas and city outskirts. Unless another 300 MW is saved through load reliefs, the restriction stipulated by the Transco can not be met.

Two non-functional units at KTPS and a technical snag at Lanco power project, combined with the cut down of 600 MW in central share worsened the situation.

“Rising demand for Rabi cultivation adds to the woes. Agricultural demand has gone up by 1000 MW during the past one month,” says an official. The plummeting temperatures in the city are a blessing in disguise, he says, indicating the worst in future.