Power strike pushes region to the brink of crisis

Three major power plants badly hit by the staff strike. The generation loss at these three plants is pegged at 4,480 Mega Watts (NTTPS – 1,760 MW, RTPP – 1,050 MW and Srisailam – 1,670 MW).

Generation at three major power plants in Seemandhra has come to a complete halt on the second day of strike by employees on Monday.

Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station at Ibrahimpatnam (NTTPS, Vijayawada), Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) at Kadapa and Srisailam project are the ones that are badly hit by the strike as employees of all the departments struck work demanding revised pay scales, pushing the region to the brink of an unprecedented crisis.

In RTPP, officials had initially shut down one unit (210 MW capacity) for want of personnel to take up coal feeding. But they later shut down the remaining four units in quick succession. Power JAC leaders Ramana, Bhadraiah, Bharani Krishna, Pratap Reddy and Vijayabhaskar Reddy said the strike would continue until the demands agreed upon by the management were conceded.

The generation loss at these three plants is pegged at 4,480 Mega Watts (NTTPS – 1,760 MW, RTPP – 1,050 MW and Srisailam – 1,670 MW). Generation at all other power plants mainly Krishnapatnam (output only 75 MW) and Nagarjunasagar (NSP-30 MW) fell drastically due to the strike.

Even if the strike is called off by Monday evening, reaching maximum levels of production from zero will not be possible in less than eight to ten hours, according to official sources.

As the strike continued, municipalities and villages reeled under power cuts, but officials ensured uninterrupted supply to Vijayawada city in view of the latest developments related to bifurcation. Fortunately, Central Generating Stations (CGS) and Independent Power Producers (IPP) made more power available than what is normally drawn from. IPP and others contributed nearly 6,930 MW and CGC 3,900 MW to the State. Both Seemandhra and Telangana would have otherwise plunged into their worst-ever contingency.

The strike had its impact on Telangana also as Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS) generated only about 260 MW against its installed capacity of 1,720 MW and Jurala project with 230 MW-capacity generated no power.

The combined capacity of KTPS, NTTPS, RTPP, AP-GENCO units at Krishnapatnam and Ramagundam, Jurala, Kakatiya, NSP, Srisailam and Vijjeswaram power plants stands at nearly 9,000 MW. The situation is being closely watched by higher officials as the crisis got deeper with the employees maintaining an uncompromising position.