‘No power deficit, outages caused due to tech snag’

KOLKATA: State Power minister Aroop Biswas on Tuesday said that there was an adequate production of electricity in the state and power cuts were being reported in some places not because of any deficit in power but because of technical glitches and natural calamities.

The minister also urged people to increase power load before installing ACs amid the scorching summer heat. There have been incidents of power cuts being reported from various districts causing inconveniences to the people.

The minister’s statement comes a day after Opposition leader in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari met Power department officials in this regard.

During a press conference at Vidyut Unnayan Bhawan, Biswas said: “Bengal is the best in the country in production of electricity. The Bengal government produces a huge quantity of

electricity. There is no scarcity of electricity in Bengal. People can install 10 ACs but they should increase the load.”

On load shedding issue, Biswas said that due to technical glitches or due to natural calamities, power cuts may happen but it is not because of any scarcity of electricity in the state. The minister also assured that works would be done on war footing in case of any technical glitches.

Incidentally, Biswas on Friday met officials of distribution company CESC and expressed concern over the rise in power cuts in Kolkata. He asked CESC to investigate the increasing power cuts, and ensure a steady supply in the city, officials said.