Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram , June 10

THE Kerala Government has decided to lift the prevailing half-an-hour load-shedding in the State from June 15.

The decision has been taken in view of the early onset of south-west monsoon and the good rainfall in the catchment areas till date, according to the Chief Minister, Mr A.K. Antony.

He told newspersons here on Thursday that the load-shedding was being withdrawn on the expectation that the rainfall would continue to be good in the remaining days of the monsoon season.

Though the combined water level in the State's hydel reservoirs was still only 21.57 per cent of the total capacity, the situation was better than that during the same period last year, he said.

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had already stopped drawing high-cost power from the State's thermal sources such as the Kayamkulam plant of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the BSES plant in Kochi.

The hydel generation was simultaneously being raised by around one million units a day, the Chief Minister said.

He reiterated that the Government's top priority in the power sector was to avoid increase in tariffs.

The board's fiscal position had improved in recent months through the implementation of a series of measures like repayment of high interest-bearing loans, streamlining of the power purchase mechanism and better revenue collection.

The Government's objective was to ensure the stability of the board's finances within the next couple of years, he added.

The last time the 30-minute load-shedding in the State was completely withdrawn was on November 1, 2000.

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