The dark nights continue...

Bangaloreans have to endure soaring temperature and frequent power cuts.

Apart from bearing the rising temperature of the City, Bangaloreans have been facing frequent power cuts as well.

Despite the tall claims of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) of uninterrupted power, barring for maintenance, Bangalore has been experiencing power cuts ranging from one hour to even eight hours a day.

A couple of weeks back, many areas across the City had faced power cuts for almost ten hours during the weekend.

Areas like Jayanagar, Wilson Garden, Basavanagudi, Banashankari, Austin Town, Adugodi, HSR Layout, Lakkasandra and Koramangala did not have electricity supply between 10 am and 10 pm.

And these cuts gave nightmares to the residents who say power cuts, especially on the weekends, disrupt their plans.

"We only get weekends to stay at home and relax. But now, we are forced to head out to places like malls or theatres as they have back-up generators. We cannot enjoy a peaceful weekend at home," says Harish, a software engineer who lives in Wilson Garden.

While most students are relieved that their exams are over, engineering students, on the other hand, are busy with their exams.

Rishi, a final-year student, says power cuts in the evenings are a cause of
concern.

"It's very hard to study without electricity in the evenings. If it comes back in an hour, it's not an issue. But sometimes, it goes for a couple of hours and I end up wasting all that time," he complains.

While complaints have been made to the BESCOM authorities, many residents say they often fall on deaf ears.

"Either people don't pick up the call or they say it will come back in a couple of minutes and nothing happens," laments Jayram, a resident of HSR Layout. The BESCOM officials, however, deny that there is any problem in the City.

In fact, they claim that every complaint is taken seriously and they ensure that someone is sent to rectify the problem as soon as possible.

"As of now, there is no major maintenance work happening and we are making sure that there is minimum power cuts during weekends. If at all there is something, we make sure that people are aware of the dates and timings," says an official.

However, the ones who are reaping benefits from the constant power cuts are the dealers of UPS and inverters. They have been seeing a steady rise in the sale of inverters and UPS.

"In the past decade, inverters were used only in offices to avoid interruption in work. But now, the situation has changed. Due to long hours of power cuts, inverters are a must at all homes nowadays. People are not only coming in to buy new inverters but also getting their old ones repaired with long lasting batteries," says Vijay, a dealer on SP Road.

While not everyone can afford these back-up options, looks like one will have to just wait and watch if people get a little respite when the monsoons arrive.