Vijayawada’s Durga temple left ‘powerless’ for an hour over dispute

Vijayawada: A power dispute at the iconic Kanakadurga temple atop Indrakiladri triggered some moments of tension on Saturday after electricity supply to the shrine was cut for nearly an hour, slightly disrupting normal operations. The power cut reportedly occurred after electricity dept officials stopped supply following a billing disagreement with the temple administration.Despite the outage, darshan of the goddess continued uninterrupted, with temple authorities swiftly switching to generator power to ensure devotees were not inconvenienced. The incident, however, sparked concern among devotees and officials alike, given the importance of uninterrupted services at one of Andhra Pradesh's most revered temples.After temple executive officer Seena Nayak immediately held discussions with electricity dept officials to resolve the issue, power supply to the temple was restored. However, the episode has brought to the fore a larger and unresolved dispute between the temple management and the electricity dept.According to temple officials, for the past two years, the temple supplied around 24 megawatts of electricity per day free of cost to the power utility through a solar plant set up at the Pamula canal in Apparaopet. The solar facility was established at a cost of nearly Rs 2 crore under a formal agreement, under which the electricity dept was to provide free power supply to 10 electricity services used by the temple.The controversy erupted after the electricity dept recently demanded payment of bills for these 10 services, citing procedural and billing issues. Temple authorities argue that the demand violates the existing agreement and defeats the very purpose of the solar project.EO Seena Nayak warned that cancellation of the agreement would result in a waste of Rs 2 crore of public money invested in the solar plant. He urged power officials to review the matter carefully and take a fair and pragmatic decision. With both sides holding firm, the future course of the power agreement remains uncertain, leaving devotees and the public keenly watching how the dispute is resolved.