Bengaluru: The heavy rainfall on Sunday played havoc on the transformers in city following which power cuts were reported in several parts of the city. A transformer blast in Hebbal caused power outage in parts of Bengaluru following the rainfall. Similar conditions prevailed till Monday where areas around Hebbal experienced power cuts more than four hours.
Though Bescom officials claimed that the power outage in city was related to rains and blast of a 220 KV transformer, residents in areas like Indiranagar, Vijayanagar and Jayanagar experienced similar power shutdowns throughout the day.
Bescom officials claimed there was no shortage in power supply as of now, but in the coming days there could be deficit as a unit at Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS) has stopped functioning. There are also issues with the RTPS in Raichur which could hamper power supply in the coming days.
“KPTCL has taken up installation of high volume power carrying cables and once the work is over the power cuts will be minimised during rainfall. On Sunday several areas reported fault in transformers due to which power cuts were reported. There is a dedicated team at the Bescom call centre which attends to such calls swiftly,” the official noted.
Energy experts have suggested that the government must ensure that the Bidadi power plant and new unit at the Bellary thermal power station are made operational so that the gap in the demand and supply could be bridged. Mr M G Prabhkar, Chairman of Energy Committee of FKCCI, said that the Bidadi plant project has been pending for more than five years and the government must take up the issue with the union government.
“The government is hoping that the power generation in hydel sector which is running on a deficit in the state and rest of the country could pick up as there has been good amount of rainfall in the last two days. “The inflow of water to the reservoirs has increased since Sunday and we are hoping that the hydel generation improves by mid October,” said an official from the energy department.
