Chennai:
Day one of the two-hour-long power cut turned chaotic this morning at the home of Ms Sujata Vijay in Chennai's RA Puram area. The power went off at 8, crippling her kitchen appliances. She could not prepare her son Ved's favourite chutney for idlis and had to make sandwiches instead before he rushed for his classes.
"It's a shame. Now we have to completely make a fresh plan for the day's menu; what and when to prepare etc," she told NDTV.
The Tamil Nadu government blames it on a 2500 MW power shortage due to alleged poor performance by central government-owned power stations in the state.
But Chennai seems to be suffering far less than rural Tamil Nadu. For the last one month, factories in Coimbatore have come to a grinding halt because of 10 hour blackouts everyday. Over the last year and a half around 1000 micro industries have shut shop in this industrial belt.
Some people like Mr Ramesh Raju who runs an IT company have kept their firms running on diesel generator sets at a huge cost. "I spend around two lakh rupees just for diesel every month. We require around 800 litres of diesel every month for the gen sets," Mr Raju said. Another Coimbatore resident Ms Vidyashree Dharmaraj said, "We pay the same tax as Chennaites, why this step motherly treatment of long power cuts for those outside Chennai."
Students are the worst hit, with semester exams approaching. In rural areas, many study using kerosene lamps or candles. "We don't have Internet, or computers. Photocopying shops charge double the amount saying they spend a lot for generators," said Ajit Daniels, a student. "The government gives free laptops, but do we have power to charge them?" added another student Nikhil Viswanathan.
The two Dravidian parties - the ruling AIADMK and the DMK - blame each other for the mess. The state government hopes things would improve in a few months once power production starts from a few upcoming power stations including the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant.