With elections to the State Legislative Assembly scheduled to be held in a few months, the State government on Monday maintained that steps have been taken to ensure uninterrupted power supply in March, April and May when examinations are conducted.
Addressing presspersons here, Minister for Energy Shobha Karandlaje said to ensure uninterrupted power supply during summer, the department had decided not to use hydel power stations to the maximum capacity. Hydel projects have been generating 10 to 12 million units per day these days against the capacity of 32 million units.
Residents of Bangalore would also get regular power in summer. The demand would touch 185 million units in the State during the peak summer, she said.
Noting that rural areas would continue to get single phase electricity from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Minister said there would be disruptions in power supply during nights in rural areas due to technical reasons.
On the steps taken to mitigate the power crisis, she said Gujarat had agreed to supply 500 MW and talks were on to buy 200 MW from private firms, she said.
Ms. Karandlaje said she would take a delegation to Delhi to meet Union Power Minister M. Veerappa Moily on Tuesday to seek coal linkages for a Bellary Thermal Power Station. The Centre has reduced coal allocation to State’s thermal projects. The delegation would urge the Centre to provide coal linkages to thermal projects in Yeramarus in Raichur and Chhattisgarh, she said.
She said the government would build a theme park in memory of martyr Sangolli Rayanna in Belgaum. The historical monument has been neglected and there was a need to renovate the place where he was hanged, she said.
Asked about developments in the Bharatiya Janata Party after a group of MLAs joined the Karnataka Janata Paksha headed by the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, the Minister said she would talk about the issue at an appropriate time.
