Load shedding for domestic connections has increased sharply in Tiruchi region over the past couple of days, leaving the residents fretting and fuming in the unabated hot weather condition.
Over the past couple of days, domestic consumers across the region experienced load shedding for nine to 10 hours. This included two three-hour spells during the day between six and nine in the morning and from noon to 3 p.m. The return of the power cuts during nights has irked consumers the most.
Even the heavy downpour in the city and elsewhere in the district on Tuesday night failed to provide much relief. Though the rain lasted about couple of hours with Tiruchi junction recording the maximum of 87.60 mm, the power cuts in three spells, each of one-hour duration, made it a horrible night for city residents given the humid conditions.
“We could even manage if the power cuts were in the evening or early in the night, but over the past few days load shedding is resorted to around midnight and in the early hours of the day. To top it, we have been deprived of supply from 6 to 9 a.m. The frequent power cuts effectively ensure loss of sleep during the entire night and consequently impacts on our next day’s work,” says Raghavan, a marketing executive. Housewives and working couples also complained about early morning power cuts affecting their daily routine.
Over the past few months, domestic consumers have been experiencing a maximum of three-hour power cuts, though it went up to four hours on certain days. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had announced a reduction in load shedding from four to three hours in June in the State (other than Chennai), thanks to the availability of wind power.
When contacted, a senior officer of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation conceded that the situation has been bad over the past few days and they had to resort to nine to 10 hours of load shedding for domestic consumers in the region.
The increase in load shedding was attributed to the drop in wind power generation. As there was some rain, there was a sudden drop. “We were getting on an average of about 3,000 MW of wind power, but on Wednesday it dropped to 1,000 MW,” he said. Besides, power from the Central share had come down, he said without quantifying the exact extent of the reduction.
The officer, however, said they were providing 12 hours of three-phase supply to agricultural connections in the delta region despite the shortfall over the past few days. The supply was given in two spells of six hours each during the day and night in some areas, in some other places three-phase supply was given for eight hours during the day and four hours in the night, he added.
However, a section of farmers feels that this was because most farmers have not gone in for kuruvai crop. The officer conceded that there was no significant increase in demand in the region, which continued to be around 1,300 MW, on account of the 12-hour supply to agricultural connections.
