Madhya Pradesh Power Crunch Hits Rural Areas Hardest As Unscheduled Outages Stretch Up To One Hour

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With power becoming scarce in the national market due to the El Nino phenomenon, Madhya Pradesh has started witnessing unscheduled power cuts, particularly during evening hours. Elected representatives say they are flooded with complaints.Congress MLA Bala Bachchan told Free Press that undeclared outages were causing problems. Rural areas are facing more cuts than urban centres, lasting from half an hour to one hour.Congress MLA Pratap Grehwal said his Tribal-dominated Sardarpur constituency was witnessing outages without prior information. The area received deficit rainfall and is staring at a drought-like situation, while unscheduled cuts have fuelled public resentment. He said he would raise the issue in the Assembly's upcoming winter session.Demand near 14,000 MWPower Management Company executive director Rajiv Gupta conceded that power availability in the national market had declined following deficient rainfall across the country. Buyers now outnumber sellers. Madhya Pradesh's power demand is 14,000 MW and production is almost at the same level. Power discoms are carrying out load regulation according to their requirements.Gupta said Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala were also facing power shortages, while Madhya Pradesh was comparatively better placed.Eight hydel units shutAt a time when the market has insufficient power for sale, several generating units in Madhya Pradesh remain shut for various reasons, further straining supply.Energy department sources said eight hydel units were closed because of low water levels or repair and maintenance work. Six units at Gandhi Sagar and Rajghat dams have been shut following restrictions imposed by the Water Resources Department because both dams have inadequate water.Gandhi Sagar units No. 2 and 3 are shut for repair and maintenance. The combined capacity of all these units is 160 MW.Presently, there are various units of different power stations which have been closed either due to Annual Overhaul (AOH) or due to Boiler Tube Leakage (BTL). In these units, the state share ranges to different percentages.Power station UnitInstalledcapacityMP ShareVSTPS 5 210 61Gadarwara 2800 376Khalgaon 6500 22Lanco 1300 264JP Bina 2500 160VSTPS 12500 124VSTPS 7 500 141SASAN 5 600 224Khalgaon 7 50022Bhopal Bungalow Theft: Thieves Break Into Locked Bungalow Of MLA Pritam Lodhi's Nephew At TT Nagar; Steal LPG Cylinders, Scooter