Power outages surge in India as temperatures soar: Survey

Hyderabad: As summer temperatures climbed past 45 degrees Celsius across the country, power outages became a daily struggle for millions of households.

A recent survey by LocalCircles revealed that 38 per cent of households were grappling with daily power cuts, highlighting severe strains on the country’s power infrastructure.

The survey, which gathered responses from over 15,000 household consumers across 364 districts, found that 18 per cent of respondents endured outages lasting between two to 12 hours, while another 20 per cent faced outages of up to two hours every day. This data marked a sharp increase from February, when only 20 per cent of households reported daily outages.

Telangana, particularly Hyderabad, was not immune to these challenges. The state’s capital saw a spike in power demand, driven by the sweltering heat and the increased use of air conditioning. Local residents reported frequent and prolonged outages, disrupting daily life and raising concerns about the reliability of the power supply.

In Hyderabad, the demand for electricity surged as temperatures rose, worsening the strain on the local grid. The Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) struggled to manage the increased load, with many blaming the situation on inadequate infrastructure and poor maintenance.

The survey findings painted a grim picture across other states as well. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Maharashtra reported the highest number of complaints about power outages, particularly from urban centres like Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram, and Faridabad. Delhi recently hit a record peak power demand of 8,000 MW, further straining the capital’s electricity supply.

The reasons for these outages were manifold. Over 50 per cent of the survey respondents cited “poor supply infrastructure and its maintenance” as the primary cause, followed closely by “poorly governed and managed power departments or utility companies”. Additionally, 45 per cent of respondents attributed the outages to “power thefts,” while 34 per cent pointed to “corruption” within the system.

The survey had 28,000 responses from more than 15,000 household consumers, with 66 per cent of respondents being men. The participants were spread across various districts, with 40 per cent from Tier 1 cities, 27 per cebnt from Tier 2, and 33 per cent from Tier 3 and Tier 4 districts.