Kerala power cuts: Pinarayi Vijayan accuses UDF govt of poor planning
Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has attributed the unscheduled power cuts experienced in Kerala in recent weeks to a lack of planning and
Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has attributed the unscheduled power cuts experienced in Kerala in recent weeks to a lack of planning and preparation on the part of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, he said the LDF government was able to avoid such situations in the past decade by taking necessary steps in advance. “Last night, my house was without power for more than an hour. This has been the situation across the State in recent times.
One of the biggest issues is that consumers are not being informed in advance about the timing of these cuts. As per the government, we have a shortage of 300-600 MW on a daily basis. How did we reach this situation? Although we have the permission to purchase power at a higher tariff, the government purchased only 150 MW in July through a short-term contract. From this, it is clear that they did not have a clean plan,” said Mr. Vijayan. He said Kerala’s power sector was “strengthened” over the past 10 years through the ₹10,000-crore Transgrid project and the completion of the Edamon-Kochi Power Highway project.
“Domestic production was increased by 2,092 MW. Yet, some level of preparation is required to meet dire situations,” he said. On deal cancellation Regarding the cancellation of a long-term power purchase agreement in 2023, he said the LDF government had initially gone ahead with the agreement signed by the UDF government although it had differences with some of the clauses. However, Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) decided to cancel the agreement. When asked about Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph’s comment that the proposed nuclear power plant in Cheemeni could be considered after consultations with all stakeholders, Mr. Vijayan said such a plan could “invite strong opposition from the larger society.” “During the LDF’s term too, this proposal had come up.
But we decided not to go ahead with it and to achieve self-sufficiency through other means,” said Mr. Vijayan.
The BriefWire