Power cuts add to people’s misery

Hyderabad: People in several parts of Hyderabad are facing long/frequent power cuts, even as the summer heat adds to their woes.

The number of power cuts in the city can be gauged by the complaints netizens raise every day on Twitter, tagging the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL). On Wednesday too, dozens of such complaints were posted online.

A resident of Nallakunta had complained that there was no power in the area for four hours. Residents of Shastripuram and Narendranagar Colony, Ameenpur, had both stated that the areas were facing daily power cuts for two-four hours. A resident of Shaheen Nagar complained there was no power in the area for two-and-a-half hours.

Many people with kids at home are worried because of the heat. The frequent power cuts add to their troubles. Amreen Asfiya from Shastripuram sought AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi’s intervention by tagging him on Twitter and said everyday, there were power cuts of more than four hours in the area, and she was worried as to how her children, aged one and two, would deal with the heat.

Some citizens working from home have mentioned about their work being disrupted in their complaints.

Speaking about the frequent power cuts, a senior TSSPDCL official said currently there were very few scheduled cuts, and most of them were unscheduled. He said the most common reasons for power cuts were disconnections of jumpers (used to connect cables), cable failures and burning of fuses, among others.

The official said while it usually does not take too long to rectify these issues, sometimes it takes time to locate the damage, while at times a line breaks down, which is a major issue.

“Scheduled cuts are planned in advance, and information about them is also provided to the public. They are usually done to carry out maintenance work or to instal new equipment. Such power cuts usually only last for short durations, mostly half an hour,” the official added.

The reason that the number of power cuts increase during summers is because higher consumptions lead to higher loads, which causes fuses to burn.

The official said consumption increases from around 40 million units during the winters to around 60-70 million units in summers.

Chairman & managing director of TSSPDCL, G. Raghuma Reddy did not respond to queries on power cuts.