Guntur: 2-hour power cut in rural areas

Guntur: While making efforts to procure coal from wherever it is available and coordinating with the Singareni coal mines as directed by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the officials as a precautionary measure started imposing two hours load relief on the rotation system during peak hours between 6 pm and 10 pm in rural areas.

The Chief Minister, who reviewed the situation on Thursday, asked the authorities to even start power generation from new plants at VTPS and Krishnapatnam so that the State can get additional 1600 MW of power.

Meanwhile, sources told The Hans India that the demand for power is 190 million units but the power generation has fallen to 140 million units. In order to meet the demand, the government is purchasing power at a very high rate.

According to official sources, three Discoms are imposing emergency road relief for two hours per day during the peak time. This emergency load relief will continue till the coal supply and power generation at thermal power stations in the State improves, which may take at least fifteen days.

The Discoms expect that during the Dasara festival all the shopping malls use the lighting for decoration apart from air-conditioning. After the Dasara festival, power consumption is expected to fall. The officials made it clear that there is no chance of imposing emergency load relief for the industrial and commercial sector at least for the present. It may be mentioned that the AP Transco chairman and Managing Director Nagulapalli Srikanth requested the power consumers not to use air-conditioners from 6 pm to 10 pm because the government was purchasing the power at Rs 20 per unit. Though shopping malls consume more power using air-conditioners, the Discoms will get more revenue only from the commercial consumers. Central Power Distribution Company chairperson J Padma Janardhana Reddy said, "There is no chance to impose emergency load relief to the industries. The government is purchasing power at Rs 20 per unit. Though we are ready to pay a higher price, sometimes power is not available in the market. For grid maintenance, we are imposing emergency load relief. He expressed hope that the demand would come down from Saturday."