Andhra Pradesh is facing an unprecedented power crisis as a direct result of the ongoing indefinite general strike by Telangana protagonists.
The gap between power demand and supply has widened to 50 million units (MU) a day with the demand touching a peak of 275 MU because of continued dry spell in the state. During the corresponding period last year, the demand for power was only 223 MU.
Consequently, heavy power cuts are being imposed across the state with industries and agriculture being the worst hit.
While the duration of power shutdown in urban areas is four hours, it is six hours in district headquarters and about ten hours in rural areas.
The government-run Power Transmission Corporation of AP has officially declared a three-day ‘power holiday’ to industries in the state while it is finding it difficult to ensure seven-hour power supply to the agriculture sector even as reports have come in from districts like Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar in Telangana region that crops have started withering due to non-availability of power.
Thermal power generation at AP Power Generation Corporation’s units in the state has now fallen to 3,000 MW as against the installed capacity of 5,093 MW.
The strike in Singareni Collieries coal fields since September 13 as part of the general strike in Telangana, has reduced coal production to 36,700 tonnes a day as against the normal 1.5 lakh tonnes. This has left the thermal power stations dry, leading to severe shortfall in production, according to member Secretary of AP Energy Co-ordination Cell, Mr A Chandrasekhar Reddy.
The National Thermal Power Corporation’s unit at Ramagundam in Karimnagar district has been forced to shut down one of its units, resulting in a loss of 500 MW.