Constant power outages and unbearable summer heat; 55-year-old sleeps with heart patient wife in KSEB office in protest

KOCHI: Both day and night are extremely hot in Kerala now. A Malayali cannot even imagine the situation if there is no electricity at night. In such a situation, Parameswaran, a native of Ponekkara, did a different kind of protest.

After the power went out at night, 55-year-old Parameswaran and his ailing wife went straight to the KSEB office with a sleeping mat and a pillow. The office had power supply when they got there. Parameswaran said that it is better to sleep in the office since there is power supply there. His justification was that this option was better than lying at home enduring the heat during the hot season.

After spreading the mat on the ground, Parameswaran helped Chandrakala, who was suffering from heart disease, to lie down and sleep there. "There is no electricity at night and we are tired of complaining to KSEB officials." Parameswaran and his wife went to the electricity office and protested because they were unable to bear the extreme heat.

Parameswaran didn't back down even though the staff on duty said that they are not allowed to sleep there. "We couldn't sleep at home. Let my heart-patient wife sleep here where electricity is available," said Parameswaran to the authorities. Police came to the spot as the employees informed them about the situation but refused to move them by force.

When it was realized that Parameswaran would not back down from the protest, the staff started making vigorous efforts to solve the electricity problem in and around his house. In Manimala Ponekkara area, power goes off every night at 9 pm and then comes back on only at dawn.

Locals also came forward in support of Parameswaran's protest. Officials informed that excessive electricity use in the area is the reason for power outages at night and to solve this, it has been decided to install one more transformer immediately.