MIDNIGHT OIL? Megha Bose tries to prepare for her ensuing HS examinations by the light of a candle on Friday evening. Picture by Amit Datta

Megha Bose’s Higher Secondary (HS) examinations start on Tuesday. But power cuts, and not last-minute preparations, are on the top of the 17-year-old’s mind.

She would rather study at night but has no option but to revise by sunlight. The Carmel High School student is worried that the power cuts will end up affecting her performance.

“I have not panicked because the exams are still a few days away. But if this continues beyond Tuesday, I am scared to think what will happen,” says Megha.

She is among the lakhs of students in the city suffering in the exam season because of frequent power cuts. Just the remaining board examinations — ICSE, ISC, CBSE and HS — will have over four lakh candidates from Calcutta.

CESC officials said there were power cuts between 60 and 90 minutes in duration in many parts of the city, especially the north, as the shortfall on Friday evening reached 51 MW.

Friday morning was worse, with a shortfall of 140 MW before noon.

“Power cuts thrice a day have become normal. Sometimes, we are without power for over six hours at a stretch,” says Behala-resident Indrani Banerjee, who is set to appear for HS from March 11.

The students complain that using candles or emergency lights to study at night is affecting their health. “With the temperature rising, studying during a power cut is uncomfortable,” says a board examinee.

There are other problems, too. “We often download study material or discuss questions with each other over the Internet. But we can’t use a computer during a power cut, which disrupts our schedule and leaves us without a back-up plan. It is very frustrating,” said Monalisa Saha, a student of Loreto House, appearing for ISC this year.

The latest power crisis started on Thursday after three power-generating units in CESC’s Titagarh thermal power station had to be shut down following a fire in the conveyor belt feeding coal to the boilers. The lone functioning unit at Titagarh generated 71MW.

The power cuts in the city would have been prolonged on Friday if West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited did not supply 444 MW to the CESC grid — nearly 100 MW more than what it supplied on Thursday evening.

“The repair work is under way on a war footing and we have made a lot of progress. We expect the situation to become normal by Saturday afternoon,” said a CESC spokesperson.

He added that power cuts were expected on Saturday morning.