The power supply situation in the city is yet to see an improvement as a two-hour load shedding schedule is being imposed on days when the peak load becomes unmanageable for the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom). Officials are hopeful of the situation stabilising by the end of this week.
In the past week, several areas experienced load shedding during evening peak hours.
Annual maintenance
The shortage of power has been intensified by the shutting down of one unit in the Bellary Thermal Power Station (500 MW) and one in the Udupi Power Corporation Limited (600 MW). While the BTPS unit is undergoing annual maintenance, the UPCL unit was shut down on October 4 because of technical issues.
“We are also restricting hydel power generation because of a shortage in reservoirs. Combined with the thermal power generation shortage, we are currently facing a shortage of around 850 MW a day, and sometimes more,” a senior Bescom official said.
What this means for the city is a two-hour power cut spread across morning and evening peak hours. The load shedding is being enforced for commercial, industrial and residential consumers. “We are trying to restrict it to days when there is a shortage. For example, there was no load shedding on Saturday and Sunday because of rains and lower peak demand,” the official said.
