Farmers stage a protest at the Vajedu substation in Mulugu district, demanding uninterrupted three-phase power supply.

Warangal:Electricity consumption in the erstwhile Warangal district has risen sharply, with the Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd (TGNPDCL) recording a 70.23 per cent increase in consumption on October 3 compared with the same day last year.

Farmers in several areas have reported interruptions in three-phase power supply for agriculture.

TGNPDCL recorded 99.45 million units of consumption on October 3, compared with 58.42mu the corresponding day last year.

The rise in demand has been attributed to the El Nino effect, higher temperatures and increased domestic, commercial and agricultural consumption. Farmers said night-time agricultural power supply had been stopped and that interruptions were also occurring during scheduled daytime supply.

The Hanamkonda circle recorded a peak demand of 346.86mw on October 3, with 6.91mu consumed that day. Warangal circle recorded a peak demand of 331.54mw on October 2. Janagaon recorded 456.18mw on October 1 and Mahabubabad 459.79mw on October 2.

The Jayashankar Bhupalpally and Mulugu circles recorded peak demands of 216.82mw and 200.30mw respectively.

The issue came into focus in Wazeedu mandal of Mulugu district, where farmers from four villages staged a protest at the Vajedu sub-station on Sunday, demanding uninterrupted three-phase power supply to their agricultural motors.

Farmers said power had been supplied during both ay and night before the kharif season. Since June, however, agricultural power had reportedly been supplied only from 8 am to 6 pm.

They also alleged that interruptions during the scheduled daytime supply lasted nearly four hours at times, affecting the operation of agricultural motors and farming activities.

Mulugu district superintendent engineer B Bikshapathi said the department had an app to monitor and regulate agricultural power supply and that electricity was being supplied according to the scheduled timings. Night-time agricultural power supply had been stopped for the past four months due to the El Nino effect and increased power demand.

TGNPDCL has begun preparations ahead of summer to strengthen its distribution network and meet the expected increase in demand. Its chairman Karnati Varun Reddy said a comprehensive action plan was being prepared after assessing likely power requirements during the coming summer.

The plans include new 33/11 kV substations, additional power transformers, increasing the capacity of distribution transformers, adding feeders and strengthening existing power lines.

The company is also focusing on solar power. Varun Reddy said TGNPDCL had crossed 100mw of solar power generation within its jurisdiction and was taking measures to make another 300mw available over the next two to three months.

Awareness programmes on rooftop solar and the PM Surya Ghar scheme were conducted across all circles from October 1 to 3 under the ‘Seva Setu’ programme.


NPDCL gears up for summer demand well in advance

Night-time farm power supply stopped.. farmers complain of cuts even during the day

Farmers from four villages protest at Dharmaram sub-station

New substations, transformers and feeders planned

 Special focus on solar power.. another 300mw targeted

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