Power crisis strangles Bangloreans as Telangana stir hits city

That the demand for a separate state can prevent you from taking a shower might be hard to believe, but it is true, and Bangaloreans are discovering it in the most painful and embarrassing way.

The ongoing demand for a separate state of Telangana in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh — which has led to the shutting down of coal supplies from Singareni coal mines, thereby affecting power generation at thermal power plants in south India—has paralysed the lives of people in the city. Treadmills have stopped working, clothes are piling up in laundry shops and hospitals have been hit due to the power cuts.

Residents and housewives are the worst affected. “I have to wake up at 5am to get everything ready. Cooking, cleaning and other household chores are affected when there is no power,” complained Rashmi Gupta, a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

Gyms, too, have begun to feel the heat as most of the customers are using the gym’s shower facilities. Ben, owner of Ben Body Studio, Indira Nagar said, “The peak hour for us is between 6am to 9am when office goers want to work out. This is the time when power fails. We have a back up generator but providing hot water in the shower through a generator costs us a lot.”

Dinesh, Assistant Manager, Fitness One Group India Limited, OMBR layout, had a similar lament. “We have a shower. If we don’t get power, we cannot store water, and when our clients want to use the shower, we are embarrassed,” he said.

The power cuts have hit laundry shops as well. Nayaz N, who works at the Grand Bell Dry Cleaners, Mahalakshmi Layout, said they were unable to work return clothes on time. “Even if the clothes come back after the wash, we have to iron and return them at the promised time, but we are unable to do so,” said Nayaz.

But it is not all doom and gloom. In times of great hardship, people invariably find ways to overcome hurdles, and Hariharan S, who works with Oracle, is one such person. With no power to turn on the geyser, Hariharan makes sure he takes a bath at the gym itself. Another Palash Bera, a software engineer with HP, does so at his MNC office, where they have a restroom with shower facility at our office.

While Palash is lucky, many of us might have to bathe once a week if the situation doesn’t improve, and that’s a scary thought.