Sri Lanka goes bananas after monkey unplugs nation

Simian saboteur or a grid screaming for modernization?

Sri Lanka's electricity grid was brought down nationwide on Sunday after monkey business struck a power station south of the capital of Colombo.

"A monkey came into contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the power system," energy minister Kumara Jayakody told media.

The simian saboteur left the population of 22,000,000 sweltering in temperatures above 30°C (86°F) while engineers attempted to restore power to critical facilities like hospitals and water purification plants.

Social media users were swift to poke fun at the South Asian island nation's fragile grid. "One monkey = total chaos. Time to rethink infrastructure?" one said, while Jamila Husain, editor-in-chief of local newspaper the Daily Mirror, wrote: "Sri Lanka's national grid is so outdated that even a monkey can cause an island-wide blackout."

These wry observations highlight a not-so-funny reality: an aging power grid that trembles at the slightest provocation.

"The national power grid is in such a weakened state that frequent island-wide power outages may be expected if there is a disturbance even in one of our lines," an unnamed senior engineer told the Mirror.

According to the Power and Energy Ministry, a group of monkeys jumped into the Panadura Power Station at around 1045 local time and ended up in a scuffle resulting in one monkey hitting the transmission line, leading to an immediate imbalance in the power grid.

However, residents are skeptical. A security guard at the station said: "Monkeys jump into the power station very often. But this does not seem to have been caused by a monkey." He also reported hearing "a loud explosion and saw a ball of fire."

The All Ceylon Small and Medium Enterprises Association was critical of the government's position that a mischievous primate was to blame.

"This is the seventh major blackout recorded by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) between 2010 and 2025. Most industrialists rely on electricity as their primary source of power. Due to this six-to-seven-hour outage, our businesses have suffered massive losses," a representative said.

"This time, the government and the CEB must compensate the industrialists. Even the Electricity Act mandates compensation for consumers affected by power cuts."

The Ceylon Electricity Board issued an apology for the blackout, though it conveniently sidestepped the pressing question of the monkey's fate. Officials say a monkey they suspect was the cuplrit has since been found dead near the transmission line at Panadura Power Station.

With the island's endemic toque macaque population estimated between 2 and 3 million, it appears this was just one drop in a banana bunch of potential grid-wreckers. ®