Alleging inefficiency and lack of planning on part of the government and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for the power crisis in the state, CPI-M led LDF Opposition members today protested and staged a walkout in the assembly.
Taking up the power shortage problem and 45 minute load shedding imposed on consumers through a notice for an adjournment motion, CPI-M member and former power minister A K Balan said KSEB's scheduled and unscheduled power cuts had adversely affected the agriculture and industrial sectors.
In his reply, Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed refuted LDF allegation and said power shortage was mainly due to a fall in the quantity of power from Central power grid.
Besides this, power generation from hydel stations in the state had also been affected to due to shortage of rainfall in the current monsoon.
However, KSEB expected the load shedding could be lifted once Sabarigiri Power station started operations after annual maintenance in June 25. The state would get an additional 380 MW from this, he said.
As a long-term solution to the power crisis in the state, he said it was very important to implement the proposed 1000 MW Cheemeni Thermal power project.
Kerala needs at least 3700 MW per month and total production from Hydel power projects was nearly 1700 MW. The deficit was met from the power from the Central Grid, he said.
After the minister's reply, Speaker G Karthikeyan refused leave for the motion, leading to the walkout by LDF members.
Before trooping out from the house, Opposition Leader and CPI-M veteran V S Achuthanandan criticised the functioning of the government and said "UDF is not interested in solving the problems, whether it was price rise or power crisis".
