Vote in, power out

Power cuts, which had been brought under control before the BBMP polls, resumed as soon as polling ended on Sunday; this, despite the CM's promise that there would be no load shedding in summer and during examsWith polling for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) elections coming to a close on Sunday evening, it seems the honeymoon period of little or no power cuts is also over for the city. The Bangalore Electric Supply Company (BESCOM) resorted to load shedding soon after the BBMP elections got over, leaving Bangaloreans to sweat it out in the heat.With dry days, when Karnataka has to struggle with major electricity shortfalls every year, inching closer, BESCOM has become alert and has begun load shedding early. The ongoing power cuts will affect lakhs of students in Karnataka, especially those appearing for SSLC Board exams slated to begin on April 1.Promise ka kya?People are, however, wondering what became of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's promise of no power cuts during the summer months and examination time, which heu00a0 made in the Assembly barely two weeks ago.u00a0There was heavy load shedding in many parts of the city yesterday too. M B Adinarayana, a resident of RPC Layout in Vijaynagar said, Yesterday there was load shedding at 10 am and power supply resumed at noon.u00a0However, the power went off again at 2 pm when I left home on some personal work. Prior to the BBMP polls, the government had decided to supply power for 23 hours in Bangalore, but from yesterday it has been doing so for only 21 hours.Power cuts have also become an cause for worry for students taking SSLC board exams that are scheduled foru00a0 April 1.u00a0If load shedding happenns between 6 pm and 10 pm, lakhs of students who are appearing for the exams across the state will be affected.Number gameThe state needs 150 million units per month but is generating only about 130 million units. The shortfall of approximately 20 million units per month is made up by purchasing power from other states at Rs 5.50 per unitu00a0 which works out to close to Rs 11 crore.However, other neighbouring states are willing to pay Rs 8 per unit, so the power supplying companies in other states are diverting power to states that are paying more.Karnataka has a bleak future in the coming months as far as power supply is concerned. The state has neither been able to generate enough power nor to purchase it by paying more to power-rich states. The other side H Nagesh, director (technical), BESCOM, said, Due to a technical problem in Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS) on Sunday, power generation dropped from 500 MW to 150 MW. Atu00a0 9.30 am yesterday, the plant had to be shut completely, leading to load shedding in some parts of the city. Some alternative arrangements have to be made as it takes two to three days to put things in place at BTPS.u00a0Hydro power generation is also low in the state due to lack of water.u00a0It will automatically pick up in a couple of months when it starts raining, he added. Yesterday the government stated that we maintained load shedding for just one hour in the past few days and we intend stick on to it.u00a0However, there might be some problems until the technical problem at BTPS gets rectified.