KOCHI: Though the KSEB has not officially announced power cuts, frequent power disruptions, especially around midnight and in the wee hours, have literally left the public losing their cool. Residents in many areas in the city, including Kaloor, Palarivattom, Edappally, Vyttila and Kakkanad, said though they had lodged complaints in this regard, KSEB officers are yet to take steps to solve the issue. “After a long day at the office, when we reach home we are not able to sleep peacefully due to frequent power outages in the scorching summer heat,” said Indu Mohanan, a city resident.
Fathima Saheer, a Kaloor resident, said her five-year-old child woke up and started crying in the middle of the night due to the disrupted service. “Power disruption along with the increasing mosquito menace means we cannot now live without power invertors at home,” she said.
However, KSEB officers said there is no undeclared power cut in the city. “With the pre-monsoon maintenance work going on, there will be some power regulations. We have to complete the maintenance works before the arrival of monsoon. In Edapally alone, more than 100 tree branches were chopped on Saturday. In such a situation, disruptions are unavoidable,” said the officer.
According to a KSEB officer, the steep increase in the number of air conditioners in houses is also burdening the KSEB. “The present transformers are unable to bear the power overload with the increasing power consumption. This will result in frequent tripping; therefore, consumption has to be regulated. It is not easy to replace the entire power distribution network all of a sudden,” said the officer.