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A battle against 10pm outages, voltage drops and ageing infra
What should be a time for rest has instead turned into a desperate struggle for relief, as an ageing power infra — buckling under unprecedented demand — plunges thousands into darkness. From ruined appliances and sleepless nights to boiling tempers and street protests, Lucknow is grappling with a distribution network nearly pushed to its absolute breaking point.
LUCKNOW Around 10 pm every night, residents of Vasudev Nagar Colony in Lucknow’s Chinhat area begin preparing for what they now call the “daily blackout”.
Coolers fall silent. Fans slow down and stop. Inverters begin beeping. Children step out onto terraces to escape the heat trapped inside homes, while elderly residents sit outside in dimly lit lanes waiting for electricity supply to resume.
For the past several days, this has become the ‘night routine’ across large parts of the state capital as Lucknow struggles through a worsening power crisis amid intense summer heat.
From Chinhat and Kamta to Shivpuri, Jankipuram and Faizullaganj, residents say long power cuts, repeated tripping and severe voltage fluctuations have pushed normal life into chaos. In several localities, anger has spilled onto the streets, with protests and road blockades erupting against what residents describe as a “collapsing electricity supply system and an unresponsive administration”.
“People are unable to sleep at night. Children are crying because of the heat and elderly people are falling sick,” said Ayush Verma, a resident of Vasudev Nagar Colony under the Kamta sub-station area.
“Every night electricity supply disappears around 10pm. We keep calling the power house, but nobody answers the phone. On Thursday, residents gathered outside the power house in protest. If things continue like this, the agitation will intensify,” he lamented.
In nearby Kalyani Vihar and Sanatan Nagar, residents described a similar situation. Many said the problem was no longer just power cuts, but dangerously low voltage that leaves appliances unusable even when supply returns.
“Coolers do not work properly, motors fail and voltage keeps fluctuating. People are paying full electricity bills but are not getting proper supply,”said Karamjeet Pathak, a resident of Kalyani Vihar.
For many residents, the department’s explanation of “excessive load” no longer sounds convincing.
Ved Prakash, another resident of Vasudev Nagar, pointed towards solar panels installed on rooftops across the colony. “Most houses here already have solar systems. Still, officials continue blaming high demand. The truth is that the infrastructure is unable to handle the pressure,” he alleged.
Inside the Kamta sub-station, however, officials and field staff painted a picture of an overburdened system struggling to keep up with soaring consumption during the heatwave.
Santosh, the sub-divisional officer (SDO) posted at the sub-station, said the area receives 10 to 20 complaints every day related to outages and tripping.
“There are more than 8,000 electricity connections under this sub-station. Demand has risen sharply due to the heat. Faults are being attended continuously, but the network is under heavy stress,” he said.
Sweating under the afternoon sun after returning from a repair call, lineman Chhotelal said outages are now occurring almost non-stop. “We barely get time to sit. One fault is repaired and another complaint comes immediately from another locality,” he said.
His colleague Sanjeev added, “People vent their anger at us because we are the ones visible on the ground. But increasing load capacity or upgrading infrastructure is not in our hands.”
In areas under the Shivpuri power house on Deva Road, residents said erratic supply and low voltage have become a daily struggle.
At Him Estate Colony near Amrai Gaon, Arvind Tiwari said he eventually installed a solar system at his home after repeated failures of electricity supply.
“There is no accountability. Officials rarely answer calls and residents are left helpless,” he alleged.
In Balajipuram, a resident Suryabhan Singh said voltage drops become severe during evening peak hours. “Fans stop, refrigerators trip and water pumps do not function properly. The situation is getting worse every day,” he added.
AK Singh, SDO of Shivpuri sub-station, acknowledged the mounting crisis and said the department was dealing with an unprecedented spike in complaints.
“We receive nearly 100 to 150 complaints daily. Long feeder lines in rural stretches are also causing voltage problems. Around 12 linemen work in every shift to manage supply across nearly 60,000 to 70,000 consumers,” he said.
Linemen posted there admitted that most repairs are temporary fixes on an ageing system.
“We repair wires, transformers and burnt connections, but unless infrastructure is upgraded, the same faults return repeatedly,” said lineman Ramadheen Yadav.
In Jankipuram, frustration boiled over late Thursday night when residents blocked a road near Bhuiyan Devi Temple, accusing the department of ignoring repeated complaints. The blockade continued for nearly two hours before officials and police intervened. Residents alleged that despite repeated assurances, outages and low voltage had continued unabated for days.
Officials later said nearly 500 metres of aerial bundled cable (ABC) was being laid in the area to strengthen the network, but the work had slowed because of shortage of manpower.
Santosh Vishwakarma, SDO at the New Campus sub-station, reached the spot and tried to pacify the crowd before police assistance was sought to restore normalcy.
In Faizullaganj’s Muslim Nagar area, residents said even repair work was failing to provide lasting relief.
A resident, Mohd Ali, recalled how a damaged wire in his locality burnt again within minutes of being repaired. “The lineman had barely left when sparks started again from the pole. This has become routine here,” he lamented.
With temperatures continuing to remain high and electricity demand expected to rise further in the coming days, residents fear Lucknow’s fragile power network may be nearing a breaking point.
