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Kerala power crisis: Minister denies ‘load shedding’ reports
Kerala's power minister denied load shedding amid protests over disruptions due to high electricity use, citing "power dripping" as the cause.
Kerala’s power minister K Krishnankutty denied reports of ‘load shedding’ in the state due to high electricity consumption even as protests rang out in different parts against widespread disruptions amid a severe rise in daytime temperature.
Krishnankutty, who convened a meeting of top Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) officials on Wednesday, said the disruptions were being caused by ‘power dripping’ due to overuse in certain areas.
“At the moment, there is no load shedding in the state,” the minister told reporters.
The minister’s clarification comes a day after the KSEB announced that it may impose short-duration curtailments of power to maintain grid stability.
At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of load shedding in the future.
His remarks come as the state faces a grave power crisis due to record levels of electricity consumption. The rise in consumption has been propelled by heavy use of air-conditioners, particularly in the late evening and night hours, charging of electric vehicles and use of induction stoves amid the LPG crisis. Kerala ‘imports’ over 70% of its power from other states and providers.
The state received 250 MW of electricity, the minister said, and if it gets more power from other states, the crisis will abate.
The rains over the last 48 hours in several parts of the state have eased the situation, he said.
Meanwhile, protests have erupted in front of KSEB offices in districts like Thrissur and Kozhikode with public and activists of political parties laying siege to the offices due to frequent disruptions.
In Thrissur, a large group of people stricken by the outage marched to the KSEB office in Erumapetty at Tuesday midnight due to prolonged disruptions. The KSEB officials explained that a fault in a major feeder line was to blame.
