Unofficial power cuts to start after Dasara in Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA: Though the Andhra Pradesh government is most likely to announce power cuts officially after Dasara festival, unofficial power cuts has already started in rural areas in the state. The state government already hinted at power cuts due to the power crisis and people are readying to face the menace. Usage of power inverters and generators was stopped due to the absence of power cuts for the past seven years in the state but now as the power cuts are becoming inevitable, people are retrieving power inverters and generators from storerooms and planning to purchase them to cope with the situation. Further, usage of air conditions and other high power-consuming equipment is going to be dismissed during peak hours.

According to reports, there is a daily power demand of 185-190 million units in the state but supply is only 145 Mus. Power utilities are trying to meet the demand by purchasing the required power. As the power situation turns worse throughout the country, the power is unavailable to purchase during peak hours which is forcing the government to impose power cuts.

According to the sources, power cuts unofficially started in rural areas which would be official from next week. Power cuts would start in urban areas in the coming days to tackle the situation. People of rural areas are deploring that the power utilities have started cuts for three to four hours unofficially.

Residents of several villages in the Guntur and Krishna districts lamented that they were experiencing power cuts during evening and night times for the past three days. They sought that at least the government should announce power cut timings which would help people to plan their works accordingly and further sought to the government to resolve the power crisis.

Commercial sector mainly hospitals, shops, hotels, restaurants, canteens, showrooms, medical shops, groceries, curry points, clothiers, stationeries, milk parlours, saloons, electronics, electrical and mainstream traders started efforts to tackle power cuts. Traders, R. Ajay Reddy and Neelisetti Prabhakar said business peak hours were from evening 6 pm to 10 pm but the power cuts would be imposed during those hours and hence majority traders were readying with power inverters and generators. They said they forgot about the inverters and generators for the past seven years but are now reverting to them due to the power crisis.       

Advisor to the government (public affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy appealed to people to stop using air conditions and other high power consuming equipment during peak hours.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties hold Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy responsible for the power crisis due to lack of planning towards procuring coal stocks. Refuting the allegations, minister for energy Balineni Srinivas Reddy said Covid-19 pandemic caused a huge increase in power usage by 15 MUs and stated that the government was trying to resolve the power crisis.