In election season, no load-shedding in Karnataka till summer-end

Enjoy uninterrupted electricity supply till the end of the ongoing summer as the 5 power discoms in the State have declared not to go for load-shedding till the summer (read election) is over.

In election season, the five Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMs) across Karnataka have decided to make consumers happy by declaring that they will ensure that there is no load-shedding in the next three months during summer. With peak demand rising during these months, load-shedding during summers was one of the most repeated complaints by consumers.

The decision was taken keeping in mind the interests of students and farmers, the ESCOM directors said during a meeting on Wednesday, March 15.

The five ESCOMs are Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM), Bengaluru; (Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (MESCOM), Mangaluru; Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (HESCOM), Hubballi; Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM), Kalaburagi; and Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), Mysuru.

Last month, Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture V. Sunil Kumar, who is also the Minister in charge of Dakshina Kannada, had informed the Legislative Council that the government had no plans to hike electricity tariff in the State. He had also said that irrespective of the demand for power, the government will not trouble the students and farmers.

KPTCL, Bescom staff call off stir

Ahead of the indefinite strike of the employees of Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) and BESCOM, the Karnataka government announced that the wages of the employees in the power sector will be hiked by 20 percent.

''We have decided to increase the wages of employees of the Transport Department by 15%. We will issue an order in this regard today,' Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said. As many as 60,000 employees from lineman to engineers had called for the strike seeking wage revision. After the revision in salaries, this strike has been cancelled.