Power Cuts in Calcutta: A Concern for Voters and a Challenge for the Election Campaign

Civic councillors in Calcutta have raised concerns about frequent power cuts in the city, which they fear could impact the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The councillors reported these issues to Mayor Firhad Hakim on Friday, urging him to address the matter with CESC, Calcutta’s sole power supplier.

The issue has become particularly prominent in recent weeks, as the use of air conditioners has increased with rising temperatures, leading to numerous complaints from residents about power cuts and voltage fluctuations.

Bappaditya Dasgupta, the Trinamool Congress councillor of Ward 101 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), shared his experience while accompanying Lok Sabha candidate from Jadavpur, Sayani Ghosh, on a door-to-door campaign trail. “There was no power in the area when we went there,” Dasgupta said. “Residents told us about the problems they faced because of frequent power cuts.”

Dasgupta also highlighted that power cuts disrupt water supply, as the pumps used to extract groundwater and supply it to homes in his ward could not function optimally due to voltage fluctuations. “If power supply is impacted, water supply, too, gets impacted,” he added.

A councillor from Kasba echoed these concerns, suggesting that the power cuts and voltage fluctuations “could impact the votes”.

A CESC official attributed the power cuts to unsanctioned load, explaining that many people are installing air conditioners in their homes without informing CESC or upgrading their meters. “We have received applications for 34,000 new ACs between March 1 and April 15. Our calculations suggest that about 1.5 lakh new ACs were installed during this period. Nearly 80 per cent ACs were installed without any meter upgrade,” the official said.

Avijit Ghosh, executive director (distribution) at CESC, explained that an in-built protection mechanism leads to power cuts in the event of overloading in the system. “When many ACs are run in an area without the required meter upgrade, it can lead to overloading. The system will take its own protective measure, otherwise there will be much larger damage that will cause more suffering,” he said.