Prolonged power outage cripples Thrissur City as Corporation electricity staff go on strike

A city-wide power outage lasting several hours threw life out of gear in Thrissur on Tuesday after the employees at the Corporation’s electricity department went on an indefinite strike.

The blackout, which began around noon on the busy M.O. Road feeder and spread to multiple sections, left businesses, households, and vital civic divisions in the dark.

As complaints flooded, the electricity department’s offices, striking staff refused to attend to them, forcing much of the city to depend on generators. Nearly 20 power-related complaints were officially registered from across the city through the day, while rumours of the strike extending into the night triggered anxiety among residents and traders.

Meanwhile, the striking electricity workers staged a dharna in front of their office, shouting slogans, even as Congress councillors led by Opposition Leader Rajan J. Pallan laid siege to the Mayor’s chamber in protest.

The joint trade unions of the Corporation electricity department launched the strike demanding withdrawal of the Local Self-Government department’s order reducing sanctioned posts from 229 to 103, and seeking a salary revision that has been pending for seven years. The sudden staff crunch triggered widespread disruption, halting complaint redressal and leading to hours-long power cuts across several sections including the M.O. Road feeder and areas with heavy commercial activity.

Workers lose jobs

The drastic cut in posts has already cost the jobs of more than 100 temporary workers, union leaders said. The number of electrical workers has been cut from 50 to 18, and linemen from 51 to just 5. Workers argued that slashing so many posts in a department that must function 24/7 is unjustifiable.

Currently, the Corporation’s electricity department serves around 40,000 consumers spread over 12.5 sq km. Even as there was demand to increase sanctioned posts, including for meter readers, the department instead faced mass downsizing, they said.

Although KSEB staff received their salary revision long ago, the Corporation electricity staff — despite having similar service conditions — were told their revision would be implemented only after finalising the staff pattern. With the government failing to follow through, the long-pending revision has been further delayed.

As per the 1991 staff pattern, out of the current 229 employees, only 110 are permanent while the rest are temporary.