Relief from power cuts, not heat wave

Santanu Saraswati
Kolkata, April 25--With no rain-cloud in sight, there seems to be no respite for Kolkatans from the heat wave and scorching sun in the immediate future. However, the added woes of long hours of power cuts are hopefully over.
While the CESE area witnessed no load shedding in the domestic sector, a shortfall of 40MW was recorded in the industrial segment. Any power cut that had been reported was due to some local fault, said CESE officials. While the mercury refused to come down, Kolkatans got the much-needed relief from daily blackouts that had become almost a norm since a week now.
“Kolkatans will have to bear with this unbearable heat for the next 48 hours at least. We have issued a warning for a heat wave for the next 24 hours. The situation would be monitored and then we would decide whether to extend the warning or withdraw it,” a senior weather official said.
With no signs of the heat condition improving, the last thing one wants is a load shedding. Thankfully, the situation has improved on the power front. Besides the CESE, the state board has also managed to decrease the shortfall in the districts that have witnessed two to three hours of power cuts compared to the 10 to 14 hours of blackout till Friday. The state board has recorded a shortfall 210 MW during the peak hours on Saturday.
The Opposition has wasted no time to stir up protests against the deplorable power condition in state. After Thursday’s protest by Trinamool supporters in Serampore, Youth Congress activists in North 24 Parganas have launched a movement against prolonged load shedding at Barrackpore and Habra supply offices with hand fans and candles on Saturday.
In Habra the demonstrators got the main switch off after entering the state board office and began fanning the staff. Over 100 party members led by district Youth Congress president Biswajit Samaddar staged the demonstration in Habra. Samaddar told HT, “The people of North 24 Parganas are suffering from scorching heat accompanied with load shedding for eight to ten hours a day. So, we have started the agitation.”
Barasat Trinamool candidate Kukuli Ghosh Dostidar told HT, “As the CPM leaders are wealthy enough they don’t have to suffer. But the poor people are the worse hit by such power cuts.”
Only a rain or thundershower would be able to bring down the temperature by a few degrees. But for that an anti-cyclonic circulation has to form in the upper parts of the Bay. The Met official said that there is no possibility of any Norwester or rain at least in the next two days.
“Till Saturday afternoon we have not seen the slightest possibility of any such developments. Instead, the hot dry winds from the western and northwestern parts of the country are continuing to lash the city,” he said.
On Saturday the maximum temperature recorded was 40.4° C, which is four degrees above normal. Weather officials predict that on Sunday there would be not much change in the mercury level. The maximum relative humidity on Saturday was 88 per cent and the minimum was 18 per cent.
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