Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 29 May 2025
If there truly are supernatural forces at play, they must hold a particular grudge against the people of Sri Vijaya Puram. Because how else do you explain the unrelenting curse of power cuts that continues to haunt this part of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, year after miserable year—despite promises, assurances, and the occasional token headline?
What was once an inconvenience has now become a lifestyle. Power cuts have embedded themselves so deeply into the daily lives of the people here that most no longer even flinch. Outrage is reserved for only the worst nights—those extra generous outages that push even the most tolerant to their limit. And the electricity department? They’ve clearly given up on upgrading infrastructure—but hats off, they’ve been spectacular at upgrading the public’s tolerance.
On 28th May, a few lonely voices braved the digital wilderness of WhatsApp Groups to express concern—again—over the frequent and long power cuts. By late night hours, Nicobar Times received calls from distressed residents who had simply had enough. One caller said he dialed every number linked to the electricity department, only to be met with eternal rings or silence. Out of desperation, he even called the police. They politely declined to file a complaint—after all, it’s not a crime to make people suffer without electricity, is it?
He pleaded with us to tell his story. We promised we would.
When our official line came out of airplane mode in the morning, another call poured in—this time from a prominent citizen of Sri Vijaya Puram, once again demanding to know: how is one expected to work, live, or even sleep under these conditions?
So we did what any modern newsroom would—we checked the data. Our smart inverter (yes, we too have one now—survival of the fittest) recorded a grand total of 8 power cuts on 28th May alone. The total blackout time? Nearly 6 hours—5 hours and 58 minutes to be precise. This was just at one location in Happy Colony, Dollygunj.
And mind you, this is not an outlier. On an average day, residents can expect 1.5 to 3 hours of power cuts, spread generously across 2 to 8 random intervals. It’s like playing blackout roulette every day—and you never win.
It is difficult to wrap one’s head around the level of incompetence that allows this madness to go on, year after year. And then comes the real punchline—those scheduled power cuts every other Saturday, lovingly termed “maintenance.” One wonders: what exactly are they maintaining, and for whom?
Political leaders, unsurprisingly, have made peace with this mess. Why wouldn’t they? Their homes and offices run on high-end backup systems that never let the power blink. But they’d do well to remember—those who don’t have the luxury of an inverter or a generator still possess something powerful: the right to vote.
For now, the residents of Sri Vijaya Puram and the rest of rural South Andaman can look forward to more long-term fairy tales—perhaps a shiny new LNG Power Plant, somewhere even beyond the distant horizon. But when it comes to concrete, short-term solutions? Don’t hold your breath. You might need the oxygen when the fans stop spinning again.