Palakkad (Kerala) | Youth Congress activists staged an unusual protest outside an office of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in Vandazhi in this district, alleging frequent undeclared power cuts in the area.

The protesters arrived at the KSEB office around midnight with mats and pillows, entered the premises, and lay down as part of a ‘sleep protest’, television visuals showed.

Police reached the spot following a complaint by KSEB officials and removed the activists from the office after nearly an hour.

The Youth Congress workers alleged that repeated disruptions in power supply amid intense summer heat had caused severe hardship to residents.

The protest comes even as state Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty and KSEB authorities maintained that there is no unannounced load shedding in the state. They have attributed recent outages to temporary overload due to high electricity consumption.

Addressing concerns raised by various parts of Kerala, the minister said on Saturday the disruptions were not deliberate but occurred during peak demand hours, particularly between 10 pm and 11 pm.

KSEB had also said power consumption in the state has risen to unprecedented levels amid the ongoing heatwave and urged the public to reduce usage during peak hours between 6 pm and 11 pm.