Power cuts burn hole in pocket

Hyderabad: Despite the official announcement of three-hour power cuts in two phases, the twin cities these days are being subjected to power cuts in three phases.

The situation in the  suburbs is worse with cuts up to four times a day and in the rural areas there is hardly two hours of power supplied during the day.

In fact, even the hospitals and schools are not spared from cuts. Currently only traction power to railways have remained unaffected but all other services, including water supply, are facing cuts, giving a tough time to citizens.

The direct impact of such massive cuts are being faced by small industries, businessmen and farmers, with huge financial implications. The cost of operations of most industries have gone up by 20 per cent already and huge losses  are being foreseen.  

With water supply being restricted as a fallout and lifts being operating on generators, many residential societies have upped maintenance charges.

“For back-up power, society management is claiming extra charges for maintenance,” said Sai Vishwanath, a resident of Srihari Residential Complex in Mehdipatnam.

Likewise, the  cost of operations of shops and complexes shot up by 30 to 40 per cent due to high consumption of diesel.

“We are a new supermarket aiming at tapping the local customers. But, if the store is not adequately lit, customers will not step in. So, we have to run gen-sets even when we are waiting for customers,” said Bhikhabhai, a small supermarket owner in Ameenpur.

“We face cuts four times a day, which leaves everything in chaos. I reach home from office at around 4.30 pm to find power cuts. While power  is resumed at 5.30 pm, again it goes off again at 7 pm.  These are apart from the three-hour cuts imposed from 6 am to 7.30 am and 12 noon to 1.30 pm during the day,” said Kirthi Reddy, a resident of Lingampali area. Some areas at Medak have been seeing no daytime power supply for the last one month.