Power cuts to continue in high-loss areas

It is now confirmed — areas with more than 55%  losses in the distribution and collection of  electricity will not be load shedding-free this year end.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company  (MSEDC) has categorised the feeders as per their distribution and collection losses. Though areas in categories A to F (with a less than 55% loss) will be power cut-free by December, nearly 547 feeders with the highest losses, and hence categories G-1 to G-3, will still face 9 to 12 hour power cuts.

Power minister Rajesh Tope, said, “We have excluded the feeders in the lowest three categories. We are going as per our schedule, and areas with less than 55%  distribution and collection losses will be free of power cuts by December.” He added that his department was trying to elevate the lowest categories to reduce power cuts.

Of the total 16,768 feeders, those supplying electricity for industries and those in categories A to D have been load shedding-free from October. This means that nearly 80% of them have not had power cuts while another 12 % will see full supply of power by December.

Surprisingly, the highest losses, which are up to 83% in some areas, are in those that enjoy strong political patronage. The highest losses are in the Aurangabad circle with 110 feeders with more than 55% losses. Nanded and Nashik zones, where there are stronger political clouts of the ruling parties, will not see any respite in power cuts.