A reliable power supply with almost no fluctuation or interruption in supply, an upgrade to smart meters, better customer service, and increased efficiency: this dream will become a reality for residents in seven areas of the city, including Whitefield, M.G. Road and Rajajinagar.
Upping the ante on providing reliable power supply, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will soon begin work on creating seven model sub-divisions which will have negligible power cuts and many other amenities.
The proposal to create these model sub-divisions across the city is part of a larger scheme spread over five years in which 12 such divisions would come up in the city.
“We are targeting less power cuts. There will also be upgrades which will help with providing reliable power without fluctuations. Restoration of power during faults will also be faster,” said P. Rajendra Cholan, Managing Director, Bescom. The rollout of this plan will conclude by April next year.
According to Mr. Cholan, the detailed project report for implementing the scheme is ready, and tenders will be floated shortly. “We have selected areas where there are a lot of domestic and commercial customers for our initial list of model sub-divisions. Work will be completed by next March according to our set time-frame,” Mr. Cholan added.
While the biggest beneficiary will be the customers, Bescom will also benefit as the model divisions will have several technological upgrades. This will include a new underground cable network in the divisions that will replace the existing overhead lines, automated units which can deal with change-over of power supply faster, as well as the adoption of advanced safety equipment.
The targets set for the project are five-fold, with main goals being zero accidents, zero interruptions, reduction of losses, increase in revenue, and the adoption of latest information technology.
This year, around 8.9 lakh complaints have been registered across all eight districts that Bescom caters to. A majority of these complaints come from Bengaluru city which is responsible for over half of the State’s power consumption.
Around 9,600 complaints are still pending and these usually are not about power outages but other problems which have longer response time, officials added.