Madhya Pradesh Faces Power Crunch As Unscheduled Outages Hit Rural Areas

Madhya Pradesh is witnessing unscheduled power cuts, particularly during evening hours, as the national power market faces scarcity due to the El Nino phenomenon and deficient rainfall. Rural areas are bearing the brunt with outages lasting half an hour to one hour without prior notice, while urban centres face fewer disruptions. Congress MLAs have reported rising public complaints and plan to raise the issue in the Assembly's winter session.

The state's power demand stands at 14,000 MW with production at nearly the same level. Power distribution companies are implementing load regulation based on their requirements. Eight hydel units remain shut—six at Gandhi Sagar and Rajghat dams due to water restrictions, and two at Gandhi Sagar for maintenance—reducing combined capacity by 160 MW. According to Power Management Company officials, other states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are also facing shortages, though Madhya Pradesh is comparatively better positioned.