Before electricity, this is how life went by in Visakhapatnam

About a century ago, before electricity became part of daily life, Visakhapatnam relied on simpler, traditional methods for lighting, cooking, and cooling. Nights were illuminated by oil-wick lamps, fueled by the abundant supply of vegetable oil and beeswax, which were used for earthenware lamps and candles. The warmth of home-cooked meals came from charcoal-fired sigris (a type of brazier), which were also used by dhobis (laundry workers) to press clothes. As kerosene became more accessible, Hurricane Lamps and kerosene-fueled stoves started gaining popularity.

For cooling, the wealthier households and select public places like the Collector’s Office and St Paul’s Church in Waltair had overhead punkahs—large, manually operated ceiling fans that required an attendant to keep them in motion.

Street lighting was a structured affair, managed by a designated Municipal Lamplighter. Every evening, he would make his rounds, checking oil levels, trimming wicks, and lighting the streetlamps. At dawn, he would return to extinguish them, ensuring that the city followed its daily rhythm.

The first glimpse of electric lighting in Vizag came in 1908 during the inauguration of the new St Aloysius School buildings. However, in the early days, electricity was primarily reserved for institutions that generated their own power rather than for the general public.

In the early days of electricity in Visakhapatnam, power generation was primarily intended for institutional use rather than for the general public. The first major source of electricity for the city came from a power plant at Visakhapatnam Port, which was initially established to meet the port’s own needs.

As the construction of the port neared completion, discussions about extending power supply to the wider city gained momentum. Around this time, Dantuluri Lakshmi Narasimha Raju, a London-educated engineer involved in port, railway, and government construction projects, took the initiative to bring electricity to Visakhapatnam. In 1933, he established Andhra Engineering Co (AECO) and secured a government license under the Electricity Act of 1910 to distribute power from the port’s powerhouse to the city. However, due to financial limitations, AECO was unable to execute the project independently. To address this, Raju founded a public limited company, Vizagapatam Electric Supply Corporation (VESCO), to take over AECO’s license and manage electricity distribution.

In 1934, when the port’s power plant became operational, VESCO began supplying electricity to Visakhapatnam, marking the first time the general public had access to electric power. The municipality also introduced electric streetlights, transforming the city’s nighttime landscape.

According to long-time residents, the port operated only during the daytime, which allowed it to share its electricity supply with the town’s residents at night. This arrangement marked the beginning of widespread electrification in Visakhapatnam, laying the foundation for the city’s modern power infrastructure.

To know more about the journey of electricity in Visakhapatnam and how it changed life here, check out this article and this article.

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