Load-shedding or power cut has become a part and parcel of our daily life these days. Electricity plays a very important part in regulating modern life. Any interruption in the supply of this vital term of energy therefore puts the whole system out of gear and paralyses our life.
Load-shedding occurs when generation of power is less than the demand. And it creates problems of far reaching consequences in the economic and social development of the country. Mills and factories become idle, industrial production declines, workers are retrenched. Social order suffers a great damage. Domestic life becomes a painful ordeal. Students suffer in their study, straining their eyes in dim candle lights. The housewife gropes in the darkness in the kitchen, the shops have to close down. Men in the cinema halls spend hours in stuffy suffocation for failure of the exhaust system. There is no water in tanks. People return home after a day's hard work only to enter a dark den. The entire life-domestic and industrial-comes to a standstill.
The problem of load-shedding has assumed such a proportion that unless something is done to stop this rot, the whole state is going to face a great calamity. It is unfortunate that only about 50% of the rated capacity is generated in the power plants. This is a sad commentary on the performance and efficiency of our power plants. An all out effort should be made to identify the factors responsible for this poor generation and suitable actions taken with careful planning and complete dedication to avert a virtual collapse of life. (259)
