Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Friday convened an emergency review meeting amid the state's acute power crisis and frequent disruptions.
"Chaired an emergency review with the Chief Secretary Shri Bishwanath Sinha IAS and KSEB CMD Shri M G Rajamanickam IAS to address the current power crisis. Directives have been issued for immediate, high-priority actions to resolve the crisis," he said in an X post.
The chief minister's intervention came amid mounting criticism from opposition parties over the power crisis.
Earlier in the day, Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph said the Kerala State Electricity Board was working to address the power shortage and that the opposition should not blame the present government, as lapses during its tenure had also contributed to the current situation.
He said electricity demand had increased by more than 1,000 MW compared to the same period last year, while power generation had declined.
The minister said there had been instances when power restrictions had to be imposed multiple times.
Joseph said the state could not immediately enter into long-term power purchase agreements, as such contracts required tenders, participation by eligible suppliers, regulatory approval and several months to finalise.
The KSEB was unable to secure sufficient power through short-term purchases in the day-ahead and real-time markets, he added.
Further, opposition BJP and CPI(M) alleged that mismanagement and a lack of practical interventions had led to frequent, undeclared power disruptions in the state.
The BJP said it would organise statewide protest marches to KSEB offices on Saturday and Sunday against the acute power crisis.
People were suffering due to the undeclared power cuts, and the situation was an example of the state government's failure, BJP state general secretary S Suresh alleged in a statement.
He said the BJP would launch stronger statewide agitations if the government failed to find an immediate solution to the crisis.
