Unscheduled power cuts worries Hyderabad residents

The number of complaints over unannounced power cuts are on the rise in the State capital. People in the city point out that they haven't witnessed such power cuts during January and February in the past the way they were now.

Hyderabad: The number of complaints over unannounced power cuts are on the rise in the State capital. People in the city point out that they haven’t witnessed such power cuts during January and February in the past the way they were now.

Complaints are coming in from many localities across the city, including Yapral, Sainikpuri, Safilguda, Alwal, Chandanagar, Ameenpur, Padmaraonagar, Santoshnagar, Dilsukhnagar, Ameerpet, Abids and many places in the Old City. Several places in the city have been witnessing power outages, faults and problems of tripping since the last few days, giving a harrowing time to the residents.

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In fact, several people are posting their complaints on Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) official ‘X’ platform handle on a daily basis. A person from SR Nagar on Monday posted that there was no power for two hours in his area. Similarly another person from Kattedan area posted that since the last one hour, there was no power. “Frequency of power cuts in Hyderabad increased and we are not even in summer yet.. I can’t imagine what would happen in the summer,” ‘X’ platform handle @theweirdtrader posted.

However, power officials claim that the power cuts were due to the ongoing maintenance works being undertaken by the TSSPDCL. They maintained that the power supply was getting interrupted at several places due to tripping in the feeders and that there was no shortage of power in the State. However, complaints of power cuts from places where maintenance works are not going on were also being reported. In fact, several localities are witnessing power cuts late at night too.

Even though the State government claims that there is no shortage of power and that there will be uninterrupted power supply across the State, the Greater Hyderabad residents are reeling under power cuts. The power officials maintained that the power cuts were being done for routine maintenance and to ensure that there was no shortage of power supply during the upcoming summer season.

According to power sector experts, problems in the transmission and distribution network, faulty equipment, outdated infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, and technical issues could lead to disruptions in power supply. But the power officials claims that they don’t have any such issues, but still there are unscheduled power cuts on a daily basis.

The officials are expressing confidence that the power utilities would be able to meet the power demand this summer, especially during the peak demand period from late April to late May, before the monsoon starts to hit the State. However people of the city are skeptical over the officials claims as the city is witnessing unscheduled power outages in February itself when the power demand is not much.