Bengaluru's Dark Days Disappear. Power Cuts Stopped.

Bengaluru: Bengaluru's dark days have gone - for now at least - with power cuts being stopped in the city. The city had been facing four hours of daily cuts, which were reduced to three hours earlier this week. And now, from Wednesday, the power cuts have been stopped altogether.

Power minister DK Shivakumar says the situation in the state has certainly improved but challenges do remain.

"Power situation in Karnataka has improved and we have withdrawn the cut-off, load-shedding. Since the wind (power generation) has reached more than 1000 and the Udupi plant has been restored. So nearly 1800 MW has been restored which was a loss of generation in the past one week, almost a fortnight. Things are normal - but still Karnataka is facing drought," he told NDTV.

The drought is a problem for power generation as Karnataka continues to depend to a large extent on hydro-electricity - and the production of this source of power has been less this year following a deficit monsoon and reservoirs not filling up. So while the Gowri-Ganesha festival may be bright without power cuts, the residents of the city had better not pack away their candles right away.