It’s not just a shortfall in power generation that causes Bengaluru to go without power for hours together. The unreliable electricity infrastructure that causes frequent breakdowns is equally to blame.
In recent times, breakdown of equipment has caused several shutdowns across the city. On Sunday, April 29, KPTCL will be undertaking urgent work on two sub-stations, leaving many areas in the dark. The present sub-station and infrastructure are not capable of handling the rapid growth of the city. On April 15, almost entire south Bengaluru was plunged into darkness owing to problems at the Somanahalli sub-station that caters to about 40 per cent of the power needs of the city.
The Somanahalli sub-station is more than 15 years old and is prone to frequent breakdowns. “Most sub-stations are old and require frequent maintenance. But since the city’s requirements are really high, they can’t really be shut down for long for proper maintenance work. The solution to this problem is building new sub-stations, but it would be really costly,” said a senior official in the energy department. He said that the infrastructure is being upgraded but not fast enough to handle the high consumption. “Hence, whenever it crosses a certain limit, we have to shut down and take up maintenance.”
If any maintenance work has to be done that involves a power shut down, an agreement between BESCOM and KPTCL stipulates that both agencies have to be in agreement. KPTCL has decided to take up work on two sub-stations, Jadigenahalli and Hoskote, this Sunday, but BESCOM claims it has not been informed.
“We had allowed KPTCL to take up Somanahalli sub-station work on mutual agreement. However, this weekend there is no maintenance work being undertaken by KPTCL. And we have not been informed,” said Ashok Angadi, chief engineer, BESCOM.