Power outage at Kanaka Durga temple due to coordination lapse, says Energy Minister

Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Tuesday said that attempts to politicise the brief power disruption at the Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada were unfortunate, and asserted that devotees’ sentiments remained the top priority of the alliance government. Speaking to the media at the Telugu Desam Party Central Office in Mangalagiri, he said the outage, which lasted for about 15 minutes, was caused by a coordination lapse between the Endowments and Energy Departments.

The Minister said that immediately after the issue came to his notice, power supply was restored on a war-footing. A review meeting was held with officials of both departments to ascertain the cause, and senior officers were directed to submit a detailed report. He said strict action would be taken against those responsible and that corrective measures were being put in place to prevent any recurrence. Another review meeting would be held on January 6 and 7 under the leadership of Endowments Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy, with the participation of the Temple Executive Officer and senior officials. Stressing that the alliance government accorded equal respect to all religions, Mr. Ravi Kumar said it was inappropriate to indulge in political criticism over a minor coordination failure and accused YSR Congress Party leaders of politicising every issue for narrow gains.