THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister will make the final decision on whether to take measures including powercut to solve the power crisis. After the high-level meeting held today, the matter was left for the Chief Minister's consideration. Chief Minister and the Power Minister will hold a consultation on the issue on 25th. To solve the current crisis, the solutions before the board are to buy power from outside at a higher price or implement load shedding. Chief Minister's decision will be decisive in which method will be chosen.

At the same time, Minister K Krishnankutty had earlier informed that since the power crisis has worsened, strict control will be required and there may be an increase in charges. The increase in charges will depend on how much electricity is purchased. Due to lack of rain, there is no water in the dams of the hydroelectric generating stations. Electricity consumption is also on the rise due to lack of rain.

There is a loss of Rs 10 crore per day by buying power from outside at higher prices. State has a shortage of 450 MW of electricity because of the cancellation of long-term contracts. Out of this, 200 MW is available on a temporary basis. Due to a shortage of coal, 100 MW is not available in the current contract and a total power deficit of 500 MW is being faced because of this. To solve this, electricity is bought from the open exchange at a huge price, and the bill for that needs to be settled immediately. 15 crores per day will have to be found for this. KSEB can't do that and that's why powercut is being considered. In the current scenario, the powercut will have to continue until the short-term contract power is available again, or until it starts raining.