Chennai
oi-Prakash KL
What do you do when the lights go out yet again? In Tiruppur, residents have found an unusual way to make their frustration heard – by taking selfies in the dark.
The idea came from AIADMK councillor Divyabharathi, who represents Ward 9 in the city. Instead of calling for another road blockade or conventional protest, she asked residents to send her selfies taken during power cuts. The reward was a ticket to watch Rajinikanth-starrer Jailer 2.
AIADMK councillor Divyabharathi in Tiruppur organized a unique protest against power cuts by having residents submit dark selfies, subsequently selecting 55 participants for a screening of the movie ‘Jailer 2’.
The response was far bigger than expected. Around 340 people have reportedly sent photographs showing themselves during power outages.
Divyabharathi later picked 55 people from among those who participated, coinciding with the AIADMK’s 55th anniversary. Along with their family members, the group was taken for a screening of Jailer 2 at a theatre in the Angeripalayam area.
The gathering included 110 members of the public and 15 AIADMK functionaries, taking the total strength to 125.
The film outing was also turned into a platform to highlight the issue. During the screening, members of the group reportedly displayed placards carrying messages including, “No electricity means no business and no education” and “Powerful Jailer 2, Powerful Tamil Nadu.”
Why are power cuts becoming a major issue?
For residents, the problem goes well beyond an occasional interruption.
Students preparing for public examinations next year have complained that evening and night-time outages are disrupting their studies. For working people, the lack of electricity after returning home means another uncomfortable stretch at the end of an already tiring day.
Families with children, elderly people and those dealing with health problems are particularly affected when outages continue through the night.
The complaints are not confined to Tiruppur. Several parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, have reported power interruptions, with residents in some areas resorting to road blockades and other protests.
The issue has an added significance in Tiruppur, one of Tamil Nadu’s major textile centres. The city has a large concentration of spinning mills, yarn manufacturers, knitwear units and garment businesses, all of which depend heavily on uninterrupted electricity.
A power shortage behind the cuts
The state’s electricity supply situation has also come under pressure.
In October, Tamil Nadu’s power distribution utility turned to the short-term electricity market to shore up supplies. It contracted 1,500 MW of round-the-clock power at rates ranging from Rs 31.99 to Rs 34.49 per unit, while another 2,000 MW was secured for the evening peak at prices of up to Rs 37 per unit.
The high-cost purchases come even as consumer tariffs have been kept unchanged, adding to the financial pressure on a power sector carrying more than Rs 2.4 lakh crore in debt.
One immediate problem was coal availability. With coal supplies running short, the utility had to rely more heavily on expensive gas-based generation to manage the evening demand between 6 pm and midnight.
Tamil Nadu was not alone in facing the squeeze. Coal stocks at power plants across India had fallen sharply. The Central Electricity Authority estimated in early October that available stocks were equivalent to roughly 6.6 days of consumption, well below the standard benchmark of 20 days.
Poor monsoon performance added another layer to the problem. Hydropower generation across India fell by about 20 per cent in the July-September quarter compared with the same period last year.
Why storage matters
Tamil Nadu has more than 12 GW of installed wind power capacity and is rapidly expanding its solar generation. But much of that renewable electricity is generated when demand is not at its highest.
The biggest pressure comes in the evening, when households and businesses switch on lights, fans and appliances after the working day.
That is where energy storage becomes important. Electricity generated cheaply during the day can be stored and released during the evening peak, reducing dependence on expensive emergency purchases.
For now, however, residents are dealing with the immediate problem – and Divyabharathi’s Jailer 2 ticket campaign has given the power-cut protests an unusual twist.
Instead of slogans on a blocked road, the protest began with photographs taken in the dark. And with 340 selfies already submitted, the message appears to have travelled well beyond the councillor’s WhatsApp group.
