The Union Ministry of Power clarified the steps taken by PM Modi, asking citizens of India to switch off lights of their houses leading to a blackout.
On the 3rd of April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a Twitter video, asking Indians to gather once again at their homes and end the darkness of the Novel Coronavirus. Mr. Modi asked the citizens of India to once again gather together on the 5th of April and light a candle, diya, flash lights, torch for 9 minutes at 9:00 P.M.
The Ministry of Power, released a press note which clarifies, only lights would be switched off for 9 minutes at 9:00 P.M., on the 5th of April, as per PM Modi’s appeal.
The electrical appliances like fans, refrigerators, AC, television, street lights would be functioning normally.
The release read, “The appeal of the Prime Minister is to simply switch off the lights in their homes from 9 pm to 9.09 pm on the 5th of April. There is no call to switch off either street lights or appliances like Computers, TVs, Fans, Refrigerators and ACs in the homes. Only lights should be switched off.”
It further added, lights in hospitals, Public Utilities, Municipal Services, Offices, Police Stations, Manufacturing Facilities, etc will remain on and it is only for people staying at homes.
The release further read, “All local bodies have been advised to keep the street lights on for public safety.”
Speaking about the stability of power, the Ministry mentioned, the Indian electricity grid is stable and capable of handling variation in demand, fluctuating voltage.
The clarification from the Power Ministry of India came after opposition leaders and Energy Minister of Maharashtra, Nitin Raut criticised and raised concerns of power failure.
Nitin Raut said, “If all lights are switched off at once it might lead to failure of the grid. All our emergency services will fail and it might take a week’s time to restore power.”
Meanwhile, the State Energy Ministries and Power Ministries geared up and said to be prepared for the consequences of the black out on the 5th of April.
