Kerala Power Cuts Enter Tenth Day, Disrupting Daily Life Across State

Partial power cuts continued across Kerala for a tenth consecutive day on Thursday, with a severe power crisis forcing authorities to schedule load shedding between 6.30 p.m. and 1 a.m. The back-to-back outages have unsettled daily routines, and the burden is falling unevenly on students, the elderly, women and migrant workers.

Students preparing for examinations say the interruptions break the rhythm of study. H. Vishnu, a Class X student at St. Mary's High School in Pattom, said even a half-hour break disrupts the flow of revision and forces him to spend longer than usual on lessons.

At home, the outages have reshaped evening schedules. Seema Nair, a homemaker in Sreekaryam, said she has to devote more time at night to comforting her two children, who wake suddenly when the supply is cut. Households that depend on night hours for chores have also been affected by the unannounced cuts.

Senior citizens and people with health conditions are among the worst hit, particularly given the state's sweltering heat and humidity. George Mathews, a 68-year-old retired government servant from Pattoor, described having to climb the stairs of his five-storey flat at night after the lift stopped during an outage.

Safety concerns have also been raised, especially for women, as street lights fail to function properly. Emily Joy, who works at a textile shop in the city, said navigating the Thampanoor bus stand in central Thiruvananthapuram at night has become difficult because of inadequate lighting, and warned that regular prolonged cuts could aid unscrupulous elements in public spaces.

The city's migrant and floating population has been hit as well. Many rely on induction stoves for cooking amid an LPG shortage and the absence of gas connections, and the outages have thrown their meal schedules into disarray. Ahammed Rafiq, a migrant worker from West Bengal, said those using induction stoves are now unable to cook at night or must prepare food in advance.