Hyderabad: Power breakdowns have become the order of the day not only in the capital city of Hyderabad but also throughout the state. The state government claims that there are no power cuts in the state, but still every day citizens have to do without power supply, sometimes for hours together.
In the twin cities, the power department is flooded with complaints. Every day the electricity department receives about 2,000 to 3,000 complaints from people about the power blackouts. There were 432 power breakdowns in the state in March with citizens being in the dark for up to four hours in some cases.
The blackouts due to power breakdowns are in addition to the scheduled power cuts that occur when maintenance work is being carried out. TRANSCO officials, however, continue to maintain that there are no power cuts in any part of the state and local problems may be affecting the power supply.
Power supply was cut off in 137 areas this month for “maintenance work” such as removal of kites stuck on electricity lines, feeder bifurcation work, traffic related work, rectification of AB switches (used to connect or disconnect power system) and similar issues. In Begumpet area on Friday, power supply was stopped from 1 pm to 5 pm, while on March 9, it was stopped from 8 am to 12 pm in Kundan Bagh area for these reasons.
Power is often disconnected at night when maintenance work is being carried out. A resident of Rajeswarnagar colony in Kondapur said in a complaint to electricity authorities on March 19 that there are power cuts in this area almost daily, even at night.
TRANSCO's chief general manager (operations), Hyderabad city, Satish Kumar, admits receiving over 2,000 complaints every day across the city about poor power supply. He attributes it to maintenance work. He said that suppose if a fuse is damaged, an entire area will be affected and many people of that area will make a complaint and that is why there are so many complaints.
Hyderabad city is in a better position than the districts. In Gummadi-dala in Medak district, there was no power for eight hours on Friday when a conductor snapped. Hasanpally area in Mahabubnagar district was under a blackout for six hours on March 18. Residents of Saroornagar went without power for 12 hours on March 16. If shortage of power is not the cause of blackouts, then citizens can only conclude that the power sector is being very shoddily administered.
