It is now 2017 and the problem of unannounced load-shedding all over the country persists, despite repeated claims to the contrary by the ruling government.
The demand for electricity has reached 16,300 MW while production is stuck at 10,100 MW, according to the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).
The increased shortfall has come about due to extremely low levels of stored water in the larger dams of the country. Hydro-power production is at a level of 1400 MW rather than its full capacity of 5500MW. Due to this the burden of electricity production has fallen on thermal power plants or independent power producers (IPPs).
This means that the new power schedule that the government had come up previously, exists only on paper and is not going to be implemented in reality any time soon.
After a system overload, the National Power Control Center has started conducting power outages without any previous notice to the distribution companies with urban areas experiencing blackouts of up to six hours a day and rural areas having to go through eight hours with no electricity.
Furthermore, government sources have also stated that the situation will not alleviate till the production of the hydropower plants increases. It is expected that the situation will persist and power outages will grow.
Furthermore, in October last year, the government had requested civilians to reduce their consumption of electricity so that they would not have to face too many outages. However, even after this year’s constant announcement by the government that they have come up with plans to reduce load-shedding, it has not happened.