Power

The markets of Madivala, Nelamangala, Banashankari and Naganathapura wear a new look these days. Buying vegetables, fruits and other home needs in the evenings has become easier now, thanks to the CFL bulbs that have replaced petromax lanterns in these places. They have illuminated smiles on the vendors’ faces too.Sarojamani, a small vendor for the last 17 years recalls that earlier the vendors had to either scramble for a place below the streetlight or spend on costly and low illuminating light sources or pack up their business by sunset. She used to spend more than Rs 900 per month for…

Water | Health Summer’s here, and so is crisis season. Every year, officials say power cuts and water issues will not plague Bengaluru but each summer the situation remains the same. And if all this were not enough, the heat and humidity of summer bring with it its own problems. Citizen Matters spoke to government officials to find out what people can expect on the power-water front and also to some doctors on how to combat seasonal ailments. Uninterrupted power…what’s that? "I have to depend on the generator as there are untimely power cuts. My business is getting affected. This…

All our politicians in the state are now busy mustering POWER to rule us, with promises. On the contrary, there is untimely load shedding ( especially in the evenings between 6 PM to 11 PM and early mornings 5 AM to 7 AM).This has caused problems to exam going children. They have to revise the syllabus of the entire year. Although, the government provides mid-day meals,free books and other facilities, the students cannot revise in the last few hours before the exam. What would be the impact on the psychology of the children? We hope our government and energy department…

Ever wondered why Bangalore has several firsts to its credit? Be it industrialisation, automation, machine-tools, aviation, aerospace-research, advanced studies, information technology, the city has been the Mecca for trying out developmental projects. It sure speaks of the progressive nature of its people and their innovative spirit. In a series of articles, Citizen Matters will try to cover the various innovations that the city has pioneered through recent history. Receiving Station, MG Road (pic: Gopal MS) Ask the citizens of Bangalore to name the city's biggest problem and they are sure to say either traffic and/or power cuts. They will surely…

In the year 2008, discussion about power cuts was the talk of the town, among the city’s numerous other grouses. While everyone was affected by these outages, scheduled and unscheduled, and ranting about the same, Jayanagar Shopping Complex was least bothered to join the debate. Not because it never had these power cuts, but because it is suffering from the malady for the past 33 years. Jayanagar shopping complex (Pic: Supriya Khandekar) The well known Jayanagar IV Block Shopping Complex has been facing untimely and repeated power cuts since the time it came into existence 33 years ago. "We have…

Power cuts are again the talk of the town since Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) declared a minimum two hour cut in all the residential areas in the city. “Is it really only two hours?” is what my colleague Gayathri S asks me. She gets a power cut of six to eight hours every day since the declaration of power cut was done by BESCOM. My colleague lives in Venkatapura, Koramangala. She complains of untimely power cut of more than six hours a day disturbing routines. When we checked, we found that she is not the only one suffering from…

I received the monthly update from Max Mueller Bhavan (Goethe Institut) and it was heartwarming to see this announcement:Inauguration of the new Solar Roof4.30 p.m. on November 20thWe are proud to announce a unique initiative - the installation of a photo-voltaic system on the roof of the Bhavan - one step forward in the movement towards conservation of scarce resources and utilisation of renewable energy. The implications of this project, executed by IBC Solar under the Solar Roof Project India of dena, the German Energy Agency (Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH), are expected to radiate far beyond the walls of the Institute!The…

"No power cuts for Bangalore", says H Nagesh, Director Technical, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM). The rains towards the end of July have helped increase the water levels of the reservors resulting in increase hydel power generation. He also sounded cautious about the coming weeks. "Presently the load shedding is stopped for Bangalore alone but if the rains continue in this way there might not be any need for power cuts throughout the state. But if there is irregular rainfall then scheduled power cuts will be implemented", he says. Last month, Bangaloreans all over were experiencing severe power cuts. Karnataka…