Unscheduled power cuts in domestic areas have not only irked city people but at the same time have also resulted in acute water shortage in many parts of the city. Several localities of the capital city like Harmu, Argora, Morhabadi and Doranda are witnessing power cuts due to technical snags in transformers and snapping of cables.
Jharkhand State Electricity Board-Ranchi Superintendent Engineer, RV Singh said, “When it comes to electricity, Ranchi’s biggest problem is that demand outstrips supply, adding the situation stems in part is that; Ranchi is a thunder-prone area when it rains we cut the power. Usually falling of trees during storms is a constant problem and the biggest which can never be solved is the high speed vehicles’ which hit the electricity polls at places like Kanke and Ratu road during night.”
Daily power demand from Ranchi has doubled over the last five years, as the summer peaks, so have the woes of Ranchiites. The power situation shall go from bad to worse with prolonged power cuts, low voltage accompanied with frequent fluctuations. Due to which people grapple with water crisis, with supply plunging to an all-time low of the usual volume in many areas.
With the beginning of April the power cuts accompanied with water crises has been affecting many residential colonies. “Few days back there was a ten hours power cut in the Morhabadi area due to which we had crises of water till the next day evening. Our daily lives have been affected with such a situation and the authorities choose to ignore our woes,” said Ravi a Morhabadi resident.
Moreover, some people from Harmu Housing Colony said that the power cuts were often so long that inverters, too, didn’t get enough time to get charged. Meanwhile, the local area authorities claimed that the gap between the demand and supply was not big and blamed local faults caused after the recent rains for the outages. Several condominiums and societies have already started using small generators to meet their daily power needs across the city. Residents are worried about the increasing fuel consumption by generators because of power cuts.
“Power back up isn’t a solution. There has to be some way of improving the power supply as power cut daily leads to huge generator bills,” said Vineeta Sood, a resident of Asha Apartments.
The authorities, however, claim that all is well. They are able to meet the city’s power needs.