A family adequetely em-powered

Mumbai: The Shahs are the kind whose faces would literally light up even if the there's a power cut in the neighbourhood.

Two years ago when Rajendra Shah had foreseen a worsening power situation in the city, he decided to plan for the contingency. Rajendra and his brothers set up a hybrid energy generation system.

The energy generation system is one of its kind in this city. It harnesses wind and solar energy to supplement the main power.

So, when the lights go out, the system automatically shifts to the power that's been generated from wind and solar energy through the day.

"I can save roughly about thirty to forty thousand rupees a year from it. The government is also giving a 50 per cent rebate on it," says Rajendra.

The hybrid system helps the Shahs in not just saving power on normal days, but is also a great standyby option during power cuts.

Another family which exercises the 'power' of saving are the Vazes. They, however, are driving down a different lane - one that's simple and very straightforward.

The members make sure that there is no wastage of electricity. So, when Siddhiraj leaves the room after using the computer, his brother Shashank wastes no time in switching it off.

Even as the residents of Maharashtra find means to fill the gap between the demand and supply, they are hopeful that the Dabhol Power Project at Ratnagiri will bring some respite for them this summer.

But until then, the Mumbaikars may have to cut their power consumption by as much as 20 per cent in some cases.