Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As the scorching sun is baking the state, the people are left to the mercy of air-conditioners, fans and coolers. However, power cuts being done in the name of pre-monsoon preparedness are leaving them high and dry. Power cuts are taking place in Bhopal and all other cities of the state, sometimes lasting for hours.
Even industrial production is getting affected in the wake of interruption in power supply. Kanaiya Lal Israni, president of Wholesale Cloth Market, Bairagarh, said power cuts have thrown normal life out of gear in Bairagarh. “Today, the power cut lasted from 6 am to 9 am. The water supply is done from 8 am to 9 am.
Owing to this, residents failed to get water. On Friday, there was no power supply from 1 am to 4.30 am,” he fumed. Stating that power interruption is increasing the production cost, CB Malpani, general secretary of Association of All Industries, Mandideep, said, “During the power cut period, workers remain without work and production time also increases. Moreover, machines need to be restarted, which leads to increased production cost.”
Rural areas are also facing frequent power cuts. Congress MLA and former Home Minister Bala Bachchan said, “I am sitting in a village of my constituency in Barwani and there is no power. The electricity supply is totally a mess in rural areas. The Congress will raise the issue in the upcoming Assembly session.” Meanwhile, in wake of extreme heat, power consumption has increased substantially. On Friday, the peak load reached 14,129 MW, 16 per cent more than the last year.
Likewise, the minimum power demand touched 1,197 MW, 12 per cent more than the previous year. However, additional chief secretary, Power department, Manu Shrivastava said that the state has ample electricity and they were able to meet the demand. Power minister Pradhyuman Singh Tomar, he said power cuts are taking place due to maintenance of transformers and lines.
“Transformers get burnt due to overload and time is taken to change it,” Tomar added. He claimed cities are getting over 23 hours of power supply and above nine hours is being given to farmers.
No power shutdown in Bhopal till Tuesday
In view of the extreme heat, the Central Power Distribution Company has decided not to take up power shutdown till Tuesday in Bhopal. In the meantime, the company has appealed to people not to use unnecessary electric equipment.
