People have had to buy uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems to avoid the inconvenience caused due to frequent power cuts.
The translocation of overhead cables into underground cable resulted in power cuts at Konanakunte area in Bengaluru on December 2, 2021.
Shop owners and residents expressed problems due to frequent power cuts in the Konanakunte Industrial Area. The outage was planned during working hours between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. which increased disturbances for businesses.
Ali, a weaver at AGS Boutique in Chunchaghatta road said, “When power cuts happen in day time, we manage with the sun light. But when it happens in the night we have to close shop and go back home.” He added that it disrupts their business hours.
At such times, UPS are the only savior for residents and business owners. Suresh, a shopkeeper, said that power cuts happen for an hour, at least for two to three days in a week. He uses a UPS to manage through the power cut.
The consumer service office of BESCOM in Konanakunte area deals with the customer grievances. Ramesh, an assistant engineer said, “We’re converting the overhead cables into underground cable. So, we have to turn off the power; now we can’t work with the power, right?”
Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) released a planned outage schedule for maintenance, and conversion of overhead cable to underground cable. The schedule gave a prior warning for the power outage of seven hours at Konanakunte. The Konanakunte area falls under Jayanagar. Jayanagar was included in the BESCOM’S conversion project in 2020. And the project had a deadline of18 months.
The frequent power cuts have been troublesome for the entire city. It has also resulted in disruption of schedules for professionals working from home. Adil, an IT professional, and a resident of Konanakunte said,“It creates problems when power cut happens during the working hours and the computer shuts down.” He also explainedthat frequent power cuts happen in his area, but as the BESCOM office is in vicinity, they fix the issue within thirty minutes, after complaining.
The frequent power cuts also have consequences over the productivity level of such developing areas. Chethan, a business professor at Acharya Institute of Graduate Studies explained, “If there’s a power cut in developing or industrial areas, idle time will increase, and the machines will become idle as well. Idle employees and idle machines will never generate any income for the company. It will increase the unemployment rate indirectly thereby affecting the entire economy.”
