Farmers urged to shun auto motor starters

Hyderabad:  Automatic motor starters used by farmers in running the pump sets in their agricultural fields to draw water have posed a major challenge for the smooth run of the just launched 24-hour power supply to agriculture.

Nearly 80 per cent of the pump sets were equipped with automatic starters. This will cause excess utilisation of power and also speedy depletion of groundwater, TSSPDCL Chairman and Managing Director G Raghuma Reddy said here on Monday. The power utilities took a serious note of the issue. 

The energy officials from TRANSCO wing were instructed to take up awareness campaign on importance of removal of automatic starters.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao already reviewed the situation and stressed importance of replacement of automatic starters with manual starters. Necessary instructions were also given to the power utilities in this regard, Raghuma Reddy said. Responsibility to install manual starters rested with the farmers.

The use of automatic starters increased ever since late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh introduced seven-hour free power to agriculture.  Since there was power shortage, the then government suggested that the farming community install automatic starters.  After the TRS came to power in 2014, KCR government introduced nine-hour power supply.

The TSSPDCL official said the cost of the replacement of automatic starters with manual one was nominal, and farmers would have to bear the expenditure.  He said the Divisional Engineers in all district were asked to prepare a weekly report on the installation of manual starters, so that the utilities would take further action.