Srinagar, June 30: As Kashmir endures one of its harshest summer spells in recent years, large parts of Srinagar and several adjoining areas continue to experience prolonged and unscheduled power outages, exposing what appears to be serious shortcomings in the power distribution system at a time when electricity has become a basic necessity rather than a convenience.

For the past several days, people across the city have complained of repeated and often lengthy interruptions in electricity supply, with outages occurring multiple times during the day and night. The disruptions have coincided with soaring temperatures, leaving households, hospitals, businesses, students and elderly residents struggling without fans, air conditioners, water pumps and other essential electrical appliances.
An official from KPDCL attributed some interruptions to scheduled maintenance, overloading of feeders and isolated technical faults, the frequency and scale of the outages have raised wider questions about the preparedness of the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited to handle the unprecedented summer demand.
Official shutdown notices issued throughout June indicate that several 33-KV lines and receiving stations have undergone maintenance, even as electricity demand has surged because of the ongoing heatwave. At the same time, reports of overloaded feeders and damaged distribution transformers have emerged from different parts of the Valley, adding to consumers' difficulties.
People argue that the current crisis is not merely the result of the weather but reflects years of inadequate investment in strengthening the distribution network despite a steady rise in electricity consumption. Many questioned why infrastructure upgrades have failed to keep pace with changing consumption patterns, particularly when the use of cooling appliances has increased significantly during recent summers.
The outages have also affected commercial activity, disrupted online work, interrupted students' studies and caused drinking water problems in several localities where water supply depends on electrically operated pumping stations.
Despite the widespread public inconvenience, KPDCL has not publicly disclosed critical details relating to the present crisis, including the Valley's current peak electricity demand, the actual power available to the utility, the extent of feeder overloading, the number of failed transformers, or whether any load management measures are being enforced.