Monkey Business: How one monkey act plunged Sri Lanka into darkness

New Delhi, Feb 10: Sri Lankans are no strangers to power cuts, but even the most seasoned electricity board officials were left scratching their heads when the entire nation found itself in the dark on Sunday, courtesy a mischievous monkey.

It all began on the morning of February 9, when power across the island nation flickered, fizzled, and finally gave up. Busy and active Colombo came to a halt. Banks to hospitals were paralysed.Millions found themselves disconnected from WiFi, and offices temporarily freed from the tyranny of work-from-home meetings.

As the blackout stretched from minutes to hours, speculation ran wild. Was it a technical failure? A cyberattack? An elaborate prank? The truth, as it turned out, was far more bananas.

According to the Ministry of Power and Energy of Sri Lanka the unexpected nationwide power outage was triggered when a monkey decided to explore the Panadura sub-station plunging into the darkness.

“A monkey has come in contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the system,” explained Minister of Power and Energy, Kumara Jayakody, at a press conference. The incident led to a cascade of electrical failures, taking down the grid for nearly six hours and leaving hospitals, businesses, and households scrambling for generators.

As power was gradually restored by evening, Sri Lankans, known for their resilience, took to social media, turning their newfound primate saboteur into an overnight sensation. #MonkeyShutdown began trending. Some compared the monkey’s antics to Sri Lanka’s infamous power cuts during the 2022 economic crisis.

While engineers worked tirelessly to restore electricity, society was left pondering an important question: How did a single monkey manage to outsmart the entire power grid?