Dark, hot, angry: India wages war for power

LET THERE BE LIGHT: Protests over power were reported from many parts of the country.

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• India's war for power: Lights off, anger on

Keywords: summer, power

New Delhi: It’s not even mid-May and power riots are being reported from many parts of north India.

Tempers are rising almost in direct proportion to the rising mercury levels and the daily power outages in North India and angry residents have attacked power utilities in Delhi, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh over the last two days.

In Kanpur, Union Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal joined the protests, taking up the cause of lakhs of people in his constituency. "There's no electricity in Kanpur for almost 16hours everyday. That's why we're protesting,” he said.

Kanpur’s angry demonstrators wanted to know why the house of the Managing Director of the power supply company was well lit when they were having to spend the night without electricity.

“We won't let him sleep, till the crisis is resolved,” said Congress leader Shailendra Dikshit.

It's a scene that's being repeated night after night in many parts of north India. Residents attacked power utilities in parts of Gurgaon district of Haryana and in the national capital on Tuesday. Students and shopkeepers too are breaking into a sweat.

“Because of the power cuts, I have study like this, I'm not used to studying by lamplight, it's causing a strain on my eyes,” Divya Mishra, Student, Varanasi

“The frequent power cuts are affecting business especially in the evenings. It's driving our customers away,” Shopkeeper, Lucknow

And if there's hope of things getting any better, the power companies are quick to pull the plug out on that.

“Nothing can be done for the next two months. We have a power deficit. The only way to cope is through power cuts,” says Chairman, UP Electricity Board, Vijay Kumar.

Almost all states in the region are facing power shortages. Uttar Pradesh alone is facing a peak hour shortage of almost 4,300 MW.

When power utilities are attacked, transmission companies usually shut down sub stations, plunging more areas into darkness.

State-wise power situation:

• Delhi has a shortage of 30 per cent and the deficit is 600 MW.

• Maharashtra reels under load-shedding 8 to 10 hrs a day on an average, while the shortage is 20 per cent.
• Madhya Pradesh has a requirement of 3,500 Mega Units per day and the availability is only 2,400 Mega Units. The state has a deficit of 26 per cent.
• In Gujarat, the requirement is 5,500 Mega Units but the availability is 4,780 Mega Units.
• Energy shortage in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is 2,000 Mega Units while Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir reel under a deficit of 1,500 & 1,000 Mega Units each.