It is the middle of summer here in Southern India. The heat and wind are working together to give sharp spells of thunderstorms in the interiors, while coastal cities remain largely dry.

Rain is good. All our cities are highly dependent on monsoon rains, and the pre-monsoon rains are more than welcome. However, not all things work well with rain.

Thunderstorms cause regular power interruptions of at least 5 hours a day between 3 and 11 pm in my city, Bangalore. On one particular evening last week, electricity was restored at 3 a.m. after 12 hours of disruption.

Few Indian households have battery backup, so the darkness disrupts regular activity such as family time, making dinner, and literally everything that can be done only with lighting.

The high humidity in the air, the tropical temperatures, and the nuisance of mosquitoes mean that it becomes impossible to sleep without sweat and frequent disruption. If you have kids or are elderly, the situation becomes even more difficult.

The power cuts also mean that high power-consuming IT offices—most of which operate according to American and European standard times—are forced to use more expensive diesel generators to keep their employees working. (That raises costs for American and European consumers.)

So, what are the reasons for such long power cuts?

The transmission technology—the transformers and overhead power lines (as opposed to underground lines)—are said to be the main reason. Thunderstorms often cause power transformers to malfunction, and the overhead power lines often snap when trees fall on them.  

This is remarkable considering that Bangalore is the technological capital of India, equivalent to America’s Silicon Valley. The growth of businesses and the IT industry has not translated into infrastructure development.

While the government of India has managed to achieve energy surplus, it has yet to address the transmission infrastructure in different cities. Some of the states have already laid underground transmission lines, a must in a tropical country like India where thunderstorms can create havoc. As India grows wealthier, it will solve these problems, as already developed countries like America have done. But that achievement will be slowed if India reduces its use of fossil fuels to fight climate change. Meanwhile, the Indian people will suffer.