Relief as Andhra Pradesh electricity staff call off strike

Hyderabad: Though the successful late night talks on Monday ended the strike by the Electricity Board employees, consumers across the state had a tough time beating the heat during the day.

The power deficit had shot to 70 mu overnight from 20 mu on Sunday. The discoms resorted to load-shedding.  

Hospitals and railway stations were not spared either. Power supply was cut off to most industrial estates.

The Vijayawada thermal power station (VTPA) and the Rayalaseema thermal power station (RTPA) shut down completely. Meanwhile, the Kothagudem units generated roughly 200 MW against 1,200 MW capacity.

The Kakatiya thermal power station generated 340 MW against 500 MW capacity. “Power generation came down by 3,500 MW, roughly 70 mu on Monday,” said a senior power official.

The sudden power crisis across the state is because of both generation loss and transmission failure as workers did not attend to their duties on Monday. The impact was felt more in the Seemandhra region. East and West Godavari districts were completely engulfed in darkness with power outages affecting essential services, including health and railway services, petrol stations, ATMs and so on. Storage of vaccines at regulated temperatures became difficult. Treatment at all the government area hospitals, community health centres and the government RIMS hospital at Srikakulam were badly affected. In Chittoor, frequent power cuts were imposed throughout the day. In Vijayawada too the employees boycotted duties causing power outages.

Meanwhile, angry residents in the twin cities said they should have the option to not pay the power bill for being put through such harrowing times. “Officials do not pick up the phone when we try to lodge complaints. They impose load-shedding whenever they want and also snap the power connection when a consumer does not pay the bill. We should also have an option of not paying the bill when subjected to such hardships, that too when the temperatures are soaring,” said Shailendra P., a resident of the Cyberabad area.

Most circle offices and SE offices in the city remained shut. Several tripping episodes were reported from across the state, but most remained unattended due to ongoing agitation.