Pune activists want zero load-shedding back

Civic activists in the city on Friday demanded that Mahadiscom reintroduce the 'Pune Model' of zero load-shedding in the city.

Activists Vivek Velankar, Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe, Jugal Rathi, Tanmay Kanitkar, Ramesh Agarwal and others met Siddharth Nagtilak, chief engineer of Pune zone Mahadiscom under the banner of Pune Nagrik Sanghtna (PNS) and made the demand.

They submitted a memorandum stating that the 'Pune Model' introduced 5 years ago under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), meant that consumers in the city were paying extra tariff by way of reliability charge for the purpose

They pointed out that Mahadiscom had requested the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc) to allow it to withdraw zero load-shedding from July 2011, saying that the power utility could supply power for 24 hours a day without it.

They said that Mahadiscom's stand was overconfident and it was exposed within three months. Now citizens have to face load-shedding of up to 5 hours a day.

They said mahadiscom should immediately file a petition with Merc and reintroduce the 'Pune Model' to avoid load-shedding.