Hyderabad: After lizard, squirrel becomes villain of power cut saga

The latest reason came as part of a thread of complaints from a consumer that were posted on X, complaining about power cuts in Bapu Nagar of SR Nagar.

Hyderabad: Power distribution authorities have found a new threat to power supply in Hyderabad, after blaming lizards earlier for causing the frequent disruptions in power supply in different areas of the State. The latest reason came as part of a thread of complaints from a consumer that were posted on X, complaining about power cuts in Bapu Nagar of SR Nagar.

On June 22, he had posted pointing out that this had become a daily affair and tagged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, asking whether there was any answer from him on the situation.

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There were multiple power cuts every day, he said, adding that the situation had turned worse and that the issue was being faced during the current government’s tenure only.

To this, the AE (Operations), SR Nagar had replied that day stating that the power supply was restored. On Tuesday, the same consumer again posted, stating that there was yet another power cut, also pointing out that he had earlier asked what measures were being taken to avoid the frequent power cuts at Bapu Nagar, but there was no reply.

To this, the official’s reply was “Sir, 11 KV feeder tripped due to squirrel fault” (sic), along with a photograph of a dead squirrel. The same consumer had posted complaints on frequent power cuts on May 30 and also earlier in June, stating that he was not able to even sleep properly due to the frequent power cuts.

Earlier this month, the Telangana Southern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TGSPDCL) and Northern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TGNPDCL) had gone on sharing photographs of dead lizards stuck on horn gap (HG) fuses and distribution transformers, blaming the little reptiles for sudden power outages in different parts of the State, right from in Jagtial district to even in the Cyber City circle in Hyderabad.

The responses from the power utilities on social media, especially on X, had elicited sarcastic comments from the public, who were pointing out the frequent power outages and asking how come the lizards were not a threat earlier during the BRS regime, and suddenly started jumping onto to transformers and fuses.

The responses from the discoms were again on the same lines. For instance, the DE Technical Cybercity, TGSPDCL, sharing the image of a lizard on a DTR responded to a complaint: “Sir, supply restored.

Lizard fallen on DTR.” On Tuesday, the lizard’s picture was replaced with that of a squirrel, but with no change in the situation apparently.