Protests broke out across Kerala as residents took to the streets against undeclared power cuts, with demonstrators picketing electricity board offices and demanding immediate restoration of supply amid rising temperatures.
In Thrissur district, a large crowd marched to the Kundannur division office at Erumapetty late on Tuesday night, protesting prolonged outages. The agitation continued into the early hours of Wednesday, with several participants staging a sit-in and even lying down inside and outside the premises to press for a solution.
Officials of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) informed protesters that the disruption was caused by a fault in a major feeder line. However, the explanation failed to pacify the crowd, and the protest continued for hours.
Similar scenes were reported from Kozhikode, where Youth League workers demonstrated outside the Panniyankara KSEB office during the night. In Nadapuram, activists organised a candlelight protest over repeated outages, while in Pandikkad in Malappuram, Youth Congress workers staged demonstrations at the local KSEB office.
With tempers running high in several areas, KSEB employees reportedly sought police protection in anticipation of further protests.
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The unrest comes at a time when the state power utility has warned of possible short-duration power curtailments to maintain grid stability. At a high-level meeting chaired by Additional Chief Secretary (Power) Puneet Kumar, officials decided that outages of up to 30 minutes may be imposed between 6 pm and midnight during peak demand hours.
According to the KSEB, a sharp surge in electricity consumption, driven largely by extreme heat and increased use of air conditioners and induction cookers—has put significant pressure on the transmission and distribution network.
Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty said the ongoing power strain was directly linked to the heatwave conditions and rising household demand.
To address the shortfall, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission has allowed the utility to procure an additional 250 MW of power daily until May 15.
Meanwhile, the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has criticised the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), pointing to recent outages as contradicting earlier claims of uninterrupted power supply over the past decade.
Authorities said the situation is being reviewed on a daily basis, with the State Load Despatch Centre authorised to impose temporary restrictions if required to prevent larger disruptions.
As demand continues to surge, the state faces the challenge of balancing supply stability with growing public discontent over unannounced power cuts.
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