Hyderabad: Residents in suburbs blow a fuse over frequent power cuts

Rajendranagar: As an apparent result of flawed summer preparedness this year and lack of proper maintenance by the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL), the areas on city outskirts turned into rural habitation in terms of power supply as people are witnessing only six to eight hours of power supply in the day as power cuts are being observed almost 8 to 10 times a day.

Most of the areas such as Raghavendra Colony, Kings Colony, Shastripuram, Bintirf Colony, Rashid Colony, Kattedan and other surroundings under Mailardevpally and Kattedan operational divisions are facing unprecedented power cuts since the beginning of the summer season.

Though the TSSPDCL staff is somewhat responding to the complaints in the day time, people say that during the night there is no response from the department.

Syed Shoukat Ali, a senior citizen and a resident of Shastripuram Colony rued, "For the first time since 2014 we are witnessing such unprecedented power cuts in the area. Sometimes power cuts were witnessed four times in an hour and 8 to 10 times in 24 hours raising concern for electric home appliances in the houses which may get damaged due to recurrent power offs. It is clearly evident that no proper pre-arrangements were put in play for the summer season by the TSSPDCL."

"Several times the issue of overload on the transformers and worn out cable wires in Kings Colony area were brought to the notice of TSSPDCL officials at Shivrampally. The cables wires are turning red due to overload and fuses are blowing every hour. If at all the power was restored, the low voltage is compounding the issue", Bemoaned Abdul Rehman.

Mailardevpally Section is already lacking a Fuse off Call (FOC) centre that results in delay in attending public complaints regarding fuse blowing issues. Ever since the Mailardevpally section was carved out from the Kattedan Section in January 2019, no separate FOC centre was facilitated for the areas under Mailardevpally.

According to official statistics, the newly carved out Mailardevpally operational section alone carries a total number of 18,753 connections that include 18,103 LT and 650 HT services. This has necessitated a FOC centre in the newly carved out section to address the public grievances regarding fuse blowing issue.