Industry seeks planned power cuts

Chennai:

The power cuts in Chennai on the first day had mixed responses with industry urging the government to plan the power cuts so that unscheduled cuts don’t happen while residents felt power cuts should not happen during the night so that students can prepare for exams.

A 40 per cent cut in the power supply to the industrial and commercial consumers has left many industries urging the government for planned power cuts.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) while welcoming the power cuts felt that it would have a serious impact on small-scale sector.

FICCI president Rafique Ahmed said the government should ensure no unscheduled power cuts happen. “The 40 per cent cut has resulted in losing two man days and you get power for only three man days besides factories are running on power generators. This will result is rise in the production cost besides many will face losses,” Rafique said.

He said the state government should ensure that there are no unscheduled power cuts so that industries can plan on managing the workforce. However, he said the power cuts are a necessity as without it the state will face further crisis.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India president T Chitty Babu  said that the power cuts will hamper the industry growth and the government should look at alternative arrangements.

However, many residents said it is too early to react to power cuts. A tution teacher said that if the power cuts happen during the day, it is fine but then if it happens during the night it will affect the students. “The government should ensure that power cuts in the residential areas don’t happen after 4pm so that students have ample time to prepare for exams,” said Shivani, a tution teacher who takes classes for students of class 10^th and 12^th.

Interestingly, many residents echo her thoughts but feel that the heat will be felt only when the summer peaks up. “It is too early to predict,” says a housewife.