Unscheduled load-shedding continued to hit normal life in different parts of the region on Tuesday. More so, disruption in electricity supply for two to three hours at a stretch and that too in an unscheduled manner has become a routine affair here of late.
The electricity supply that went off around 2.30 pm on Tuesday could be restored in different parts of the Haldwani city and adjacent areas only after 4.30 pm. Disruption in supply of power at regular intervals were only adding to the woes of the citizens here.
What is more concerning is that the spell of unscheduled power outages and low or fluctuating voltages have also disrupted drinking water supply, particularly in the urban areas which are, by and large, dependent on power-driven drinking water distribution system like tube-wells.
According to the figures provided by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCl), whereas net availability of power in Uttarakhand is presently around 31.19 million unit (mu) per day i.e. about 12.88 mu per day from domestic sources, about 13.96 mu per day from Central pool and rest about 4.35 mu per day from other sources, the demand for the power has gone up to 34.92 mu per day of late, showing a deficit of about 3.73 mu per day between demand and supply.
Notably, the demand for electricity from both the domestic and commercial sector has constantly been around 34 mu per day in the State for long. However, to bridge the difference between the demand and supply of electricity, unscheduled load- shedding is being imposed on different parts of the region, as the figures provided by the UPCl reflect.
Things are equally worrisome for the hilly and remote areas of the hill state. More so, due to the shortage of power, electricity supply to industries remains disrupted for about five hours daily on an average, impacting adversely on the growth of the industry sector, as the entrepreneurs here complain.
Since winter season is drawing near electricity crisis may only worsen during the peak hours ahead due to increased demand for power, as the locals here said.