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Mani says 30 minutes to one hour curbs within 10 days
With the southwest monsoon playing truant over the 40 days since its onset, Kerala is grappling with a serious power shortage as the water level in hydel reservoirs dips to alarming levels. Hinting at the possibility of regulations in power supply, Electricity Minister M.M. Mani has said the weak monsoon could force Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to introduce power curbs in the State within 10 days.
Speaking to the media at Angamaly on Tuesday, he said the KSEB would have to introduce daily curbs on power supply ranging from 30 minutes to one hour. “We are looking at a grim power situation,” he said, adding that efforts were on to bring electricity from outside the State. “The major obstacle we face is that there are no corridors to evacuate the power purchased from outside,” Mr. Mani said. The water level in the hydel reservoirs remained precariously low due to the weak rain in the first phase of the monsoon. On Tuesday, the reservoirs together had enough water for just 10 more days.
Crucial meet on July 15
The KSEB has scheduled a meeting on July 15 to review the power situation. The meeting is expected to take a call on introducing load-shedding. However, sources in the board said the rainfall on Tuesday had led to a marginal improvement in the inflow into reservoirs.
As on Monday, the water level in the 16 hydel reservoirs in the State had dipped to 11% of storage capacity, enough to generate only 475.24 million units, down from 2,035.6 mu last year. According to statistics figuring on the website of the Load Despatch Centre, Kalamassery, the storage position this year is the lowest in recent years.
On Monday, the total generation was 9.82 mu, with hydel contributing 8.68 mu. The KSEB imported another 59.17 mu of power. Meanwhile, the State as a whole registered a rainfall deficit of 45% during the monsoon period from June 1 to July 9.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/state-facing-severe-power-crisis/article28338092.ece
