Prolonged power cuts have become order of the day in Srikakulam district since the last fifteen days. Power supply is confined to some extent in urban areas but load sheddings continued to haunt the rural areas, thanks to the widening gap between the demand and supply of power.
At present, the district needs 60 mega watts of power, while the supply is hovering around 30 mega watts. The situation was partially improved in the aftermath of Hudhud cyclone, but it was not sufficient to cater to the needs of the district. Inverters of many houses have become defunct with the lack of sufficient power supply, forcing the people to buy new ones in the district.
EPDCL officials could restore the power supply on a war footing after Hudhud cyclone left a trail of destruction in the district, including uprooting of over 200 electricity poles. “Now, we are helpless as the supply to the district from the AP Transco has gone down,” they said.
Referring to the issue, BJP leader Mamidi Venkata Rao said cashew and other industries were badly affected with the poor supply of power in the last fifteen days. “Many workers have lost their jobs with the closure of the units. The situation is very bad in Sompeta, Baruva, Kaviti and other regions,” he said.
With power cuts tasking a toll on industries, the latter are being forced to depend on captive units and diesel generators as the EPDCL officials informed them not to depend on them completely, until the power position was improved in the State.
“It is like a power holiday in Srikakulam. We had to shutdown operations since the last 15 days . We hope the situation will improve in a couple of days as EPDCL officials have promised us to improve the situation,” said a senior manager of a pharma company.
