The Hindu : Mescom to install one lakh meters by year-end

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 14, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Mescom to install one lakh meters by year-end

By Our Staff Correspondent

Udupi Feb. 13 . The Managing Director of the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) Ltd., Gaurav Gupta, said on Thursday that one lakh meters would be installed in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts by the end of this year. He was speaking at a review meeting called here to discuss the power problems in Udupi District.

Mr. Gupta said unscheduled power cuts were here to stay since load at the feeder level could not be gauged. The power cuts in Udupi and Manipal ranged between three and three-and-half hours everyday.

Besides this, power supply would have to be interrupted to meet the demands of the LDA. Power cuts in the semi-urban areas ranged between six and eight hours everyday. Since there was demand-supply mismatch, distress would have to be shared between all the districts in the State.

Mescom had printed new power bills with tariff and different slabs for LT2 and LT3 consumers. Of the 61 feeders in the district, 53 were urban. If the people so desired, all the feeders could be turned into urban ones. But that could create complications.

The President of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC), Chittaranjandas Hegde, said the water pumping station at Baje had been affected due to load shedding, leading to chronic water scarcity in various parts of Udupi city. The CMC had to provide drinking water to 1.28 lakh people in the city.

When revenue collection by Mescom was high in Udupi city and district, it was befitting that it provided more power here. Mr. Gupta promised top priority for the Hiriyadka feeder near Baje station.

The President of the District Small Industries Association (DSIA), M. Vishwanath Bhat, said the small industries in the district were hit hard by frequent unscheduled power cuts. He urged Mescom to convert all the feeders in the district into urban ones. Mr. Gupta said Mescom was not giving step-motherly treatment to either the industries or the district. A solution would be worked out to reduce power cuts, he said.

The representative of the District Ice Plant Owners' Association said the behaviour of the Mescom staff was discourteous. They never picked up the phone and did not give information of when the power supply would be interrupted or restored. There were problems with the electronic meters installed by Mescom, he said.

Mr. Gupta directed the officials to allot two telephone lines specially to give information on the power supply position.

B.V. Poojary, President of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangha Udupi district unit, said it was not possible for farmers to pay high tariff for irrigation pump sets. Mr. Gupta told the farmers to pay whatever they could, in instalments. The KERC decided the power tariff, he said. The district in-charge minister, Vasanth V. Salian, stressed the need for maintenance of transformers.

S.R. Umashankar, Deputy Commissioner, Vanajakshi, Vice-President of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat, and Sundar Naik, ZP CEO, were present.

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