Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Nov 20: On Tuesday November 10, state energy minister, K S Eshwarappa, had announced that power cuts would be affected from that day in the state, at the rate of one hour per day in Bangalore, 12 hours in villages and four hours in urban centres. However, he happily forgot about the unscheduled power cuts being resorted to by the electric supply companies, which is far more than what was announced.

Many inquisitive minds and those aware of the power situation in the state, scratched their heads in disbelief, and enquired with the concerned, about the justifiability of the power cuts announced by the minister. People are particularly angry about the cuts, announced at a time when the students of the colleges are gearing up to face the semester examinations. There are allegations, that the power cuts are the fall out of the ‘power’ struggle between energy minister Eshwarappa, who was critical of the Chief Minister (CM) during the recent revolt, and the CM, who holds the finance portfolio.

People point out that the reservoirs at Linganamakki, Supa and Mani, which are the major sources of hydro electricity production in the state, have abundant water. However, the energy department insists that commencing additional power generation by using up more water now, will affect power generation during the summer months.

Some insiders in the department have revealed that the finance department has expressed its inability to release any amount towards purchase of power this year. Last year, the finance department had released about Rs 3,000 crore to buy power to bridge the gap between demand and supply. To counter this decision, the energy department reportedly, has sought recourse to this ‘unavoidable’ step. It is believed, that non-release of funds for purchase of power, effectively prunes down the ‘power’ of the concerned to get involved with foul play. The rumour mills say that enforcing load shedding is an effective measure to instigate the citizens to bring pressure on the state government to lift power cuts. To meet their demand, the finance department will have to shell out funds to the energy department and to exactly get this done, this measure is being adopted, it is being claimed by some circles.