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17-hour load shedding in villages

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE JUNE 13. A "peak power crunch" has forced the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) to impose 17 hours of load shedding in rural areas from Saturday. Villages will get seven hours of supply — three hours in single phase between 7 and 11 p.m., and four hours in three phases at other times.

This was announced by the Managing Director of the KPTCL, K.N. Srivastava, after a Power Review Committee (PRC) meeting here on Friday. He told presspersons that three-phase power supply to all villages at the same time was not possible, and it would be in batches of three or four.

Villages used to have power supply for 10 hours. The respective electricity supply companies would notify the final details of supply schedules in rural areas. He reiterated that Bangalore would have one-hour power cuts during peak morning and evening hours (6.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., and 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.). Five hours of load shedding would be imposed on other cities — two hours in the morning, and three in the evening.

Mr. Srivastava said that the KPTCL could only supply 67 million units (MU) of energy. "We used to meet a peak demand of 4,500 MW a day. Now, it is down to 3,200 MW, a shortfall of 1300 MW.''

Many "unfortunate coincidences" had worsened the crisis, he said. They were: unavailability of power from the first two units of the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS), which caused a shortage of 8 MU; non-availability of power from a 500-MW unit at Ramagundam; and supply of only 60 MW on the Talcher-Kolar line against 180 MW a day. Besides, a 500-MW Talcher unit for the Southern Region (SR) was not functioning. It was expected to resume "in the next three-four days'', and give 120-130 MW, or an additional 3 MU to Karnataka.

Power cuts in Bangalore were to be withdrawn after June 20 when the first unit of the RTPS, or the 500-MW Talcher line, was restored. Special consideration was to be given to Bangalore because it yielded 40 per cent of the revenues, he added.

Earlier, the KPTCL used to draw 17 MU a day from hydel sources to provide power till June-end. "Now, the PRC has cut drawal to 12.5 MU to make reserves last till July 7,'' Mr. Srivastava said.

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