Sharadchandra Pal, executive engineer, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM), said on Saturday that the MESCOM was giving newspaper notifications and announcing about the power cuts for maintenance well in advance.
He was speaking at an interaction programme with power consumers held at the MESCOM office, here.
Mr. Pal said that load shedding however could not be informed in advance as they were done taken into consideration the availability of power. Sometimes consumers got inconvenienced when the personnel of the MESCOM had to cut the branches of trees which were obstructing the power lines.
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Whenever an exercise of branch-cutting was undertaken, the power for the entire line had to be put off. There was no other way to cut off the branches. Some consumers had complained of low voltage in some areas and he had directed his officers to take remedial measures.
A few consumers had demanded that the post offices should be directed to accept advance payment of electricity bills. He would bring this matter to the notice of his superior officers.
Kudi Srinivas Bhat, Secretary of Zilla Krishik Sangha, said that there was 98 per cent of electricity bill payment in Udupi district, hence the MESCOM should take steps to provide better facilities to the consumers.
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Another consumer said that the people were promised round-the-clock power supply, when their lands were acquired for the setting up of a thermal power plant at Nandikur, but the people in the surroundings of Padubidri had to face at a least a couple of hours of power cut, he said.