State reeling under acute power shortage
Hyderabad: With summer at its peak and arrival of the monsoon delayed, frequent power cuts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have made life miserable for both the aam aadmi and the industry.
Power shortage is so acute that all major cities, including Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, are facing power cuts ranging from three-six hours a day ' the less said about the plight of rural areas the better.
Officials in both the States are citing 'technical snags' for the unscheduled power cuts. According to them, there are technical problems at the Kothagudem Thermal Power Plant (550 MW) and two units of the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (440 MW).
Official sources confirmed that power shortage in Andhra Pradesh is around 12 million units (MU) per day while it is around six million units (MU) per day in Telangana.
With no major inflows into reservoirs, hydel power generation is down to zero in Telangana and just 1.2 MW in Andhra Pradesh. Reports suggest coal shortage is also leading to shortfall in power production.
However, authorities in both the States claimed power generation wasn't affected due to coal shortage. Coal is supplied to the thermal power plants on a daily basis.
For instance, the Vijayawada Thermal Power Plant gets coal from Talcheru in neighbouring Odisha. As the mercury is hovering around 50 degree Celsius in Talcheru, coal production was affected.
But, officials at the VTPS averred that the generation was not affected due to lack of coal. Andhra Pradesh gets 43.9 MW and Telangana 78.6 MW from Central Generation Stations and also other states.
The situation in Hyderabad is worse than last year. There have been frequent power cuts in the State capital for the last four-five days.
News Posted: 13 June, 2014
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