As heat wave singed Jharkhand with almost all districts notching up above 40 degree Celsius temperature on Tuesday, the state education minister Jagarnath Mahato announced that schools will be closed by 10.30am.

“Due to the heatwave and high temperature, the department has decided for schools to close by 10.30am.

“A formal notification would be issued by the state education and literacy department within a day or two for school timing between 6am and 10.30am. This was decided keeping in view the health risks to students,” said Mahato while speaking to reporters at the state secretariat on Tuesday evening.

This would be the third instance of school timings being rescheduled in a span of a month.

On April 1, the government education and literacy department had rescheduled the school timing from 9am-3pm to 7am-1pm. However, after protest from parents and faculties, the department rescheduled it to 6am-12noon on April 13.

On Tuesday evening, chief minister Hemant Soren claimed that the government has sanctioned amount for the energy department for payment of dues to DVC and NTPC for purchase of powers to mitigate the power crisis which has resulted in power cuts extending between

8-12 hours in several parts of the state including capital Ranchi.

“We are keeping an eye on the power crisis in the state. The energy department has been given money to buy electricity at a cheaper rate. Soon the power crisis will be brought under control,” said Soren after coming out from the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet gave approval of giving Rs 1,690 crore to the energy department for payment of dues of DVC and NTPC and for purchasing power at cheaper rates.

However, Soren refused to admit that the government was to blame for the electricity crisis.

“It is a national problem and several states are facing electricity problems across the country. Electricity is also not available in the market. We have asked the energy department to even purchase it even at a higher rate to meet the shortage,” said Soren.

Managing director of Jharkhand Urja Sancharan Nigam Limited (JUSNL), which deals with transmission of electricity in the state, also claimed that it was a national crisis.

“Even power self-reliant states like Odisha are facing a crisis. It is a national problem and the generation of electricity has reduced which has led to such a situation. We are currently able to meet the demand between 1300 MW and 1600 MW and there is no problem during the day time (7am and 6pm). The problem arises during evening and night time when the load increases. At the moment it is averaging between 2000 MW to 2200 MW at times.

“We will be paying to the NTPC and DVC to get extra electricity to meet the gap and hope to overcome the crisis soon,” said JUSNL managing director K. K. Verma.

There is a surge in demand for electricity due to increase in use of air conditioners and other electrical home appliances during the summer.