Image Courtesy: Mid-Day.com
As the polling for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) elections came to a close on Sunday, the honeymoon period of little or no power cuts was also over for the city.
The Bangalore Electric Supply Company (BESCOM) resorted to load shedding soon after the BBMP elections got over, leaving Bangaloreans to sweat it out in the heat.
With dry days, when Karnataka has to struggle with major electricity shortfalls every year, inching closer, BESCOM has become alert and has begun load shedding early.
People are, however, wondering what became of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's promise of no power cuts during the summer months and examination time, which he made in the Assembly barely two weeks ago.
M B Adinarayana, a resident of Vijaynagar said, "There was load shedding at 10 am and power supply resumed at noon. However, the power went off again at 2 pm."
Prior to the BBMP polls, the government had decided to supply power for 23 hours in Bangalore, but from Monday, it has been doing so for only 21 hours.
Power cuts have also become a cause for worry for students taking board exams that are scheduled for April 1.
If load shedding happens between 6 pm and 10 pm, lakhs of students who are appearing for the exams across the state will be affected.
The state needs 150 million units per month but is generating only about 130 million units.
The shortfall of approximately 20 million units per month is made up by purchasing power from other states at Rs 5.50 per unit which works out close to Rs 11 crore.
However, other neighbouring states are willing to pay Rs 8 per unit, so the power supplying companies in other states are diverting power to states that are paying more.
Karnataka has a bleak future in the coming months as far as power supply is concerned. The state has neither been able to generate enough power nor to purchase it by paying more to power-rich states.