Most Indian households believe that chronic corruption, apart from the debilitating coal shortage, is the reason for the country’s power woes.
Inefficient infrastructure, they believe, is another cause.
“A dire situation for people and one that highlights the urgent need for reforming governance in state and local power departments and companies associated with the same,” the LocalCircles survey report said.
These findings emerged from the latest survey of over 35,000 respondents across 355 districts in India by a community-led social media platform LocalCircles.
They come amid brutal heatwaves sweeping India over the past many weeks.
Impact of heatwaves in India
As temperature rises—it has already hit 50 degrees celsius in several parts of the country—electricity outages have affected more than half of the 28 Indian states. Three in five households have been affected over the past month.
The nation’s coal-dependent energy system will suffer further in the coming weeks as power demand is expected to top record levels.
It has already hit a record 207.1 gigawatts in April and is expected to rise to 220 gigawatts in May and June, according to India’s power ministry.
In the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, there has been a 3,000-megawatt power deficit against the demand of around 23,000 megawatts, the survey showed.