Chennai, don’t stress about load shedding, the WhatsApp forward on power cuts is fake

TNEB says it has surplus power for the city.

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It’s the summer – the season of load shedding in many parts of India. A recent WhatsApp forward doing the rounds in Chennai is causing stress among residents as it lists out a schedule of power cuts in different parts of the city.

But Chennaiites needn’t have to worry about planning their lives around the power cuts, as the message is fake.

Speaking to The News Minute, a spokesperson from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) said, “It is a rumour and the list of areas where the power cuts will happen is three years old. There would be no scheduled power cuts as we have surplus amount of power for the Chennai city.”

The Hindu reported that Tamil Nadu has a demand of over 15,000 MW and it has a capacity of more than 18000 MW which is sourced from thermal stations, short term power plants from private players and power exchanges.

However, on April 26, 2017, parts of Chennai faced a power blackout due to the non-payment of dues to the Vallur power plant. The Vallur power plant provides power of 1,065 MW.

Tamil Nadu has in the past been crippled by a power crisis and it was a key issue in the 2011 Assembly Elections. However, the state has not witnessed load shedding for two years, with late CM Jayalalithaa proudly declaring in June 2015 that the power situation had improved under her tenure owing to various electricity projects.

Below are screenshots of the WhatsApp forward doing the rounds.