Massive power cuts in Karnataka, Bengaluru spared
Rural Karnataka will go without power for eight hours a day from Tuesday following a massive dip in power generation in the state, the government announced on Monday.
The state's capital and nation's tech hub Bengaluru has been promised uninterrupted power supply while all other major towns will have no power for one hour late in the evening.
The schedule was announced by Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje here.
Power generation in the state has been severely hit by the agitation for a separate Telangana state in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh which has disrupted coal supply to Karnataka's two thermal power plants.
Karnataka daily needs around 7,000 MW but the supply is around 6,000 MW, she said.
The state is trying to get coal supplies from Maharashtra to overcome the crisis created by Telangana stir, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda told reporters in Hubli in north Karnataka.
The state has started buying 200 MW from Chattisgarh but the entire quantity is not reaching the state in view of congestion in transmission lines, Karandlaje said.
She is leading a team to New Delhi on October 14 to meet central ministers for help to tide over the crisis. Karandlaje will meet Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for more power from central grid, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal for coal supply from other states and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi for additional rakes to bring coal to Karnataka.
Karnataka does not have coal reserves. It depends heavily hydro-power which meets around 65 per cent of the needs.
The two thermal power plants, in Raichur and Bellary, both in northern part, are run from coal supplies from other states.
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