By IANS,
Bangalore : Karnataka Saturday appealed to the central government for immediate daily supply of 500MW of power and increased coal flow as the power crisis worsened in the state.
Power generation in the state’s two thermal power plants has been severely hit as coal supply to them has been disrupted in view of the ongoing agitation for a separate Telangana state in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
State Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje indicated that scheduled power cuts across the state could begin from Monday.
Since the last 10 days, power supply across the state has been irregular with frequent power cuts. In Bangalore, most of the areas have been going without power for three to four hours a day, each time the disruption lasting for an hour.
“A decision on announcing schedule of load shedding will be taken in two days,” Karandlaje told reporters here.
Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said he had written to union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for immediate supply of 500MW daily. He had also appealed to Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal for coal supply, Gowda told reporters.
Karandlaje said she would meet Jaiswal in New Delhi on Oct 14 to demand that coal needs of the state be met through alternative sources as supply from Singareni Collieries in Andhra Pradesh has been hit by Telangana stir.
She said while Jaiswal had given appointment for Oct 14, she was waiting for a word from Shinde to meet him to seek 500MW of power from the central grid.
Karnataka has no coal reserves and its two thermal power plants at Raichur and Bellary in northern part of the state depend on supply from other states.
With the Telangana agitation disrupting coal flow, three of the seven units of Raichur plant, each generating over 200MW of power daily, have been shut.
To meet the shortage the state has tied up with Chattisgarh to supply 200MW daily. It is also trying to buy 500MW from Punjab.
The state daily needs about 7,000MW with Bangalore alone consuming around 1,600MW. The disruption in power generation has resulted in shortage of around 800MW daily.