Legislators in Udupi district on Tuesday urged Energy Minister K.J. George to ensure there was no power outages during the next couple of months when students will be busy preparing for their annual examinations.
Participating in a meeting oganised by MESCOM and KPTCL with people’s representatives chaired by Mr. George at the district office complex, Rajatadri, in Manipal, Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna said power outages would severely affect the performance of students in the exams.
Mr. Suvarna also urged the Minister to make annual grants of ₹6 crore for the maintenance of each power sub-station in the district. He also wanted the government to make installation of solar water heaters compulsory for every new house built in the district.
Kundapura MLA A. Kiran Kumar Kodgi said Halady region in his constituency was affected by low-voltage issue and demanded immediate rectification. He complained that MESCOM officials would not repair faulty transformers even after a month. Mr. Kodgi also asked the Minister to open new sub-stations in his constituency to improve quality of power.
Mr. George said he has already directed officials to repair/replace faulty transformers within 72 hours of the complaints received and asked legislators to bring to his notice if there was nay failure. He directed MESCOM and KPTCL officials to be in regular touch with people’s representatives to know more about issues concerning the public.
The Minister said while there was no power shortage in the State at present, adequate measures were taken to ensure the problem does not occur in the summer.
KPTCL, MESCOM, the Forest Department, and the district administration should work in coordination to clear trees and vegetation before the monsoon to prevent any power disruption, he said.
MLC Manjunath Bhandary, KPTCL Managing Director Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari, Zilla Panchayat CEO Prateek Bayal, MESCOM Managing Director B. Padmavathi and others were present.
