This website tracks power cuts across Kerala using crowd data

Thrissur-native Alkesh Das was astatine his location successful Chamakkala during a powerfulness outage connected April 25. With disruptions frequent, helium tried reaching the Kerala State Electricity Board but failed. He past searched for online ailment platforms.

Frustrated, helium turned to Reddit, wherever users were discussing the powerfulness cuts successful the State owed to accrued energy depletion starring to an vigor crisis. With regular energy depletion reaching 118.26 cardinal units connected April 26, arsenic opposed to the 95 millions units during April 2025, load restrictions were announced by the Power Department, Kerala and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) which were aboriginal withdrawn arsenic summertime rainfall strengthened implicit the State.

Alkesh built Currentundo.com, a crowdsourced website (an net tract which gathers accusation from a large, dispersed radical of people), wherever users tin study outages, to place whether it affects an idiosyncratic household oregon an area. “I started 1 evening; by the adjacent day, connected April 26, it was live. I shared it connected Reddit, and it spread,” says Alkesh, who built the level with the assistance of AI tools specified arsenic Codex (OpenAI’s coding agent) and Claude.

In astir 2 weeks, the level has drawn astir 50,000 users and 10,000 regular visits, with astir 1,000 users adding it to their location screens, tracking powerfulness proviso presumption successful their location, according to the founder.

The tract tracks outages with the assistance of PIN codes and a Global Positioning System (GPS). “A idiosyncratic tin participate the PIN codification oregon usage the GPS determination connected their instrumentality to study an outage. Once aggregate reports travel successful from the aforesaid locale, we tin infer that the powerfulness outage affects an area, arsenic opposed to an idiosyncratic household,” says Alkesh. The GPS strategy does not pinpoint the precise determination of the user, but covers a two-kilometre radius.

Currently, a idiosyncratic cannot study an contented much than erstwhile wrong 10 minutes, and an outage is registered lone if astatine slightest 3 users from antithetic IP addresses study it for the aforesaid location. Alkesh believes this helps weed retired duplicate reports.

“We person besides developed different mode to cheque the powerfulness presumption of households by connecting astute devices specified arsenic refrigerators and televisions to the website, which sends updates each fewer minutes,” helium says. Users tin registry these appliances done currentundo.com/api and input determination details, pursuing which the powerfulness proviso presumption is updated each 10 minutes, adds Alkesh, who works for a Dubai-based institution arsenic a integer selling manager.

Recent updates see district-wise chatrooms crossed Kerala’s 14 districts for real-time reporting. “We usage IP hashing, a method that anonymises IP addresses without compromising idiosyncratic privacy. We besides bash not cod unrelated data, including users’ names,” says Alkesh, a machine subject postgraduate from Government Engineering College, Sreekrishnapuram. “The chatrooms besides person moderation systems that artifact abusive language, and users tin study messages.”

Alkesh is present focused connected improving the accuracy of the platform’s updates. “We’re exploring a collaboration with Kozhikode-based start-up Charge MOD, which has developed pole-mounted EV charging stations presently installed astatine astir 2,000 locations crossed Kerala. This could assistance america automatically entree real-time information from a location,” says Alkesh.

“We’re besides processing an app that tin nonstop propulsion notifications erstwhile a adjacent outage is reported, allowing users to rapidly verify the presumption successful their area.”