FIFA World Cup 2018: Fearing power outage, KSEB reminds citizens not to hurt its officials

Electricity, gas, water supply growth demonstrate an encouraging recovery by 4.4 percent.

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) staff is dreading the reaction of football fans in the state if the power supply gets cut due to any reason. Since KSEB realises that Kerala is a football-crazy state, it is circulating a poster on social media to remind people that assaulting a government official could lead to fines and jail terms. This is an indirect response to warning messages received by KSEB from fans on Facebook and WhatsApp to remain alert during match-days.

June and July are months when the Southwest monsoon winds hit Kerala. Fierce rain and winds uproot power-lines, causing damage and disruption of power across the state. When the power goes off, consumers call the section offices post which linesmen are sent to repair the damage. However, in the past, there have been many incidents of violence with the locals assaulting the linesmen or rampaging the section offices if the power does not get restored soon.

This year, with the FIFA World Cup slated to be held from June 14-July 15, football fans across the state have started posting messages on Facebook and WhatsApp warning KSEB officials to stay alert, especially during match-days, as per a report by The Indian Express. The report also quoted Balakrishnan, a KSEB employee who handles the complaint phone line as saying, “We fear for our lives. They must understand that we do not intentionally cut power supply. There is no on/off switch at the section offices. But the minute, power goes off, people rush to our offices.”

Employees are sending out personal messages on social media urging people to understand that disruptions due to monsoon cannot be predicted and that the department does its best in restoring services as soon as they can. They have also circulated a poster on social media to subtly remind people that by assaulting a government employee they could find themselves in prison and/or paying a fine.