Vyttila residents protest week-long midnight power cuts

Residents of Vyttila, a central locality in Kochi, have endured frequent and prolonged power outages for nearly a week, with disruptions occurring mainly between midnight and early morning. The affected areas include the Vyttila Janatha and Ponnurunni divisions, covering roads such as Janatha Road, Major Road, Toc-H Road, Ambelipadam Road, and Kunjanbava Road.

On Saturday night, frustration boiled over as local residents staged a protest outside the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) office at Vyttila. The demonstration continued until an assistant engineer arrived past midnight to explain the situation, after which the crowd dispersed.

Councillor Anu K. Thankachan, who represents Vyttila in the Kochi Corporation Council, said the outages have disrupted normal life, affecting sleep cycles of children and posing risks to elderly patients dependent on oxygen masks at night. He noted that KSEB officials have assured resolution of the issue by Monday night.

KSEB officials attributed the trouble to the shutdown of a substation at Thykoodam, undertaken to enhance transformer capacity. The Ambelipadam feeder has been out of service during the works, forcing reliance on the Panampilly Nagar substation. However, excess load on those lines caused repeated disruptions. Officials said the feeder will be fully charged by Monday night, which should end the crisis.

Separately, the KSEB Workers Association (CITU) has alleged that staff shortages at the Vyttila office, stemming from what it calls flawed policies of the state government, have worsened the situation. The union has announced a march to Vydyuthi Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday to protest alleged illegal transfers, and has accused the government of attempting to pave the way for privatisation by undermining the board's credibility.