Thursday 24 December 2009

Power cuts

I get into the office this morning for 9 and it is locked. I sit on the stairs till someone arrives. There is no power again. I finally find out the story. In the past years the monsoon has been small so it has left the reservoirs low in water, so power generation by hydroelectric schemes is less than requirements. So the state government is trying to buy power from other states but is having to cut power supplies each day, currently by 1.5 hrs per day. Last year it was off for 4 hrs each day - 9-10:30, 1:30-2:30, 9-10. This week the power cuts have all been 9-10:30AM. One doesn't know from one week to the next when the cut will be but seemingly it will usually be the same time each day. Luckily I have 90 mins of battery left on my laptop! But damm I could have had an extra hour in bed :( I am feeling a bit tired, I think it is a mixture of long work days, interrupted sleep, change of diet etc and of course the discomfort from my arm.

H tells me her NGO have just purchased back up batteries. Mr P wants to do this as well but hasn't had time to finalise which to buy. At 30,000 Rupees it is a lot of money for them but the upside is that they will supply 4 hrs of electricity to power PCs laptops , printers etc. The down side is that the rest of the time electricity usage has to be minimised so that they can recharge.

Solar power does seem to have made it here. I find this strange when I consider that even deep in the Sahara, even the caretaker at Essendilene has a solar power unit attached to his home to provide light etc. I wonder if the low cloud cover, in other words the air pollution level is too high? I've yet to try my solar charger as I don't really have a safe place at home to put it out. I must try it out this Sunday.

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