Govt to resort to half an hour load shedding in rural areas

Chennai, Nov 19 (UNI) The Tamil Nadu Government is forced to resort to half an hour load shedding in rural areas daily due to shortage of power, according to Electricity Minister Arcot N Veerasamy.

Responding to the charges made by AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa that the State government was resorting to unannounced power cuts in rural areas, Mr Veerasamy, in a statement here, said due to recent rains in Neyveli, the TNEB had received 500 MW less power.

Besides, the State's share from the Central pool had also declined by 380 MW. Power from Kalpakkam also came down by 100 MW, he said, and added that about 2,000 mw of wind power was not available since November one.

Despite these difficulties, the government maximised production in thermal power stations and was supplying 8,000 MW on a daily basis.

Mr Veerasamy said the state also stopped selling surplus power to other states due to domestic constraints. ''But the shortfall was only 500 MW,'' he added.

He said 600 mw of additional power was supplied to industries set up during the last one year.

Mr Veerasamy said talks were held with the Union Power Minister urging him to allocate the state's share fully. The Centre had promised to rectify the defects in Neyveli, Ramagundam and Kalpakkam.

UNI