Power consumers in rural areas may have something to cheer about. Rural areas that were receiving three phase power for six hours a day will now get three phase power for eight to nine hours a day, Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje said here on Friday. Supply of quality power to rural areas has been increased following rainfall in several parts of the State, which has also eased the demand for power, the Minister told presspersons after launching an energy saving awareness campaign taken up by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM).
“Unscheduled loadshedding will be removed,” she added.
“the single phase power supply between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in all parts of the State will continue,” she added. the demand for power, she said, came down from the peak 186 million units a day (in April) to about 140 million units to 150 million units a day now. “While the peak load increased by an average of 9 per cent to 10 per cent across the country, it increased by 16 per cent to 17 per cent in the State,” she added.
Ms. Karandlaje said that while the hydel power generation stations had the capacity to generate 50 million units of power a day, they are now generating between 12 million units and 19 million units a day. she, however, said that the demand for power could increase in the coming weeks
Coal
The Minister said that the all-party delegation from Karnataka that met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had urged him to provide coal linkages to public sector thermal power plants coming up in Yedlapura, Jewargi and Yeramarur, and also to the second unit of the Bellary Thermal Power Station. “Coal India has assured us of coal supplies to BTPS second unit for the next four years,” she said.
The delegation, she said, had impressed upon the Prime Minister to double the power corridor for the Southern States from the existing 750 MW. “Though power is available in Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and North East at a cheaper rate, we may not be able to buy it if another Southern State books the corridor,” she said.
Regarding the operation of the second unit of Udupi Power Corporation ltd., she said that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has issued directives regarding handling of fly ash, use of fresh water for cooling and others, and that UPCL needs to adhere to the pollution control norms before operating the second unit.