Kerala seems to have risked a big gamble on the monsoon by deciding to lift the load-shedding during peak evening hours with effect from tomorrow.
Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed admitted as much in the Assembly yesterday while officially declaring the decision to lift the cyclical 45-minute curb on power consumption.
While replying to debate on demands for grants for his Ministry, Mohammed said that the Kerala State Electricity Board would risk its own tattered balance sheet to procure costly liquid-fired power from NTPC Kayamkulam in order to maintain supply.
The State depends on its hydel reservoirs for most of its demand and a delayed monsoon onset and truncated delivery had badly affected the storage position in major generating stations.
The load-shedding for 30 minutes was resorted to from end-May after the State's efforts to evacuate power from upcountry Central Generating Stations failed due to lack of 'corridor space.'
This forced the Board to extend the load-shedding by another 15 minutes to 45 minutes though it acceded to popular demands to advance the schedule in view of telecast of live FIFA World Cup telecasts.
The Minister said that the monsoon had revived during the past few days offering some breather to the Board but had once again lapsed into a lull. Unless it revives without much delay, the power availability situation would get back to square one, he warned.