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Andhra Pradesh :Stir pulls the plug on power generation

Several Seemandhra districts plunged into darkness for the second consecutive day as power generation units tripped one after another on Saturday due to government employees' 48-hour strike. None of the six units that tripped on Friday at the Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS) in Vijayawada was restored. The situation got aggravated on Saturday as generation at other plants including hydel stations at Sileru and Srisailam was also hit because of the ongoing agitation against the bifurcation of state.

Power generation from the unit-VII at NTTPS was scaled down to just around 250 MW from the actual capacity of 500 MW. In all, the 1,760-MW capacity NTTPS produced just 250 MW on Saturday. This led to a total power deficit of around 3,000 MW.

With employees forcibly bringing the generation to a halt at Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant ( RTPP), the APGenco lost another 1,050 MW from the five units. Similarly, the striking employees put off units Nos. 2, 3 and 4 at Sileru hydel plant resulting in a loss of 250 MW. Authorities of APGenco stopped generation at Srisailam plant on Friday night due to the strike resulting in a loss of 900 MW.

 "In all, the state recorded a deficit of nearly 3,700 MW on Saturday. We hope that the situation would ease by Sunday morning," a senior Genco official said. The employees deliberately scuttled power generation at several plants so that the entire southern grid collapses resulting in power cuts in AP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry.

 In a clever move, the employees first created technical glitches at the sub-stations in Krishna and Guntur districts. As a result, Genco authorities could not transmit the power generated at NTTPS and brought the production units to a halt. By the time senior officials got wind of the plot, almost all the six units at NTTPS tripped and employees refused to attend to repairs. Panicked over the huge deficit, senior officials activated alternative lines to keep the southern grid alive.

 Sources said officials also made arrangements to see that there would be no interruption in transmission to Hyderabad. "We are not responsible for the technical troubles either at sub-stations or at generation plants. The Centre should take into account the anger of people of Seemandhra and withdraw its decision on Telangana," Vidyuth Employees JAC leader Syam Sudhakar said.

 As a result of generation loss, hundreds of villages in Seemandhra districts suffered unofficial power cuts ranging from six to 10 hours. Urban areas too faced power cut for about four hours. In a related development, the employees of SPDCL cut off power supply for all sections in Prakasam and Nellore districts in protest against the arrest of JAC leaders on Saturday.

 Meanwhile in Hyderabad, Seemandhra Electricity Employees Joint Action Committee chairman V Saibaba on Saturday announced that the members of his organization would go on an indefinite strike from 6 am on Sunday. He said the strike would have 'far reaching' impact on the overall power supply in the southern region. He cautioned that states including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka may be affected by the strike.

Source: The Times of India