Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will check all electricity installations and equipment in the low-lying areas in the city that get flooded often during the monsoon months.
In a statement here on Sunday, Anand Naik, Bescom’s Chief General Manager (Corporate Affairs), said that the electricity utility was not to be blamed for the electrocutions that claimed the life of three persons recently.
He said that Bescom has taken precautions to prevent any untoward incidents during the monsoon.
Claiming that the old infrastructure made faults inevitable, he said that the only solution was to improve it. However, the cost factor was a major concern. “The trees and branches fall on power lines and snap them, while the poor drainage system leads to flooding of feeder pillar boxes resulting in short circuits. This can be prevented by improving the city’s infrastructure,” he said.
Mr. Naik said that the utility was working towards maintaining the maximum outage (disruption in supply) to around 50 MW. “This means that there will be continuous power supply to the extent of around 97 per cent in the city,” he said.
He said that Bescom had increased the number of response teams. These teams have been directed to attend to at least 66 per cent of complaints within one hour, 15 per cent within two hours, 10 per cent within three hours, five per cent within four hours, three per cent within five hours and the remaining one per cent within six hours.
Bescom has urged citizens to take adequate precautions to prevent any electricity related accidents. To reach the Bescom helpline, citizens may call Ph: (080) 22873333. They may also send an SMS to 9243150000 in the following format: BESCOM <Sub division> complaint.