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Amid heatwave, soaring demand disrupts power supply in Gorakhpur, Basti divisions
The crisis has deepened as an average of six to eight transformers are reportedly catching fire daily in Deoria district, while frequent tripping and unscheduled cuts in Gorakhpur have added to people’s woes. Residents said power supply was snapping almost every hour, with outages lasting around 10 minutes each time.
Amid an intense heatwave spell, residents across urban and rural areas of Gorakhpur and Basti divisions are facing prolonged power outages, forcing many to spend sleepless nights outdoors.
The crisis has deepened as an average of six to eight transformers are reportedly catching fire daily in Deoria district, while frequent tripping and unscheduled cuts in Gorakhpur have added to people’s woes. Residents said power supply was snapping almost every hour, with outages lasting around 10 minutes each time.
More than one lakh people in around 360 villages of the Tarkulaha and Bariyar areas remained without electricity for nearly 20 hours after a sudden breakdown at the 132 KV substation in Kasya. Power department teams later traced the fault to a 150-metre damaged cable and restored supply after repairs.
Executive engineer Chandrama Prasad attributed the disruptions in Deoria to unprecedented electricity demand and overloading of the distribution network. He said repair teams had been deployed and additional transformers arranged to restore supply in affected areas.
Superintending engineer Ranjeet Chaudhary said electricity demand in Gorakhpur touched nearly 749 MVA on Saturday, up from around 735 MVA a day earlier due to the severe heat. The department appealed to residents to avoid excessive use of high-load electrical appliances during evening peak hours to reduce pressure on the grid.
Around 1,500 consumers connected to the Vishnu Mandir feeder under the Shahpur substation in Gorakhpur remained without electricity for nearly six hours on Saturday due to maintenance and pole-shifting work. Over 10,000 consumers linked to the Buxipur power station also faced outages lasting nearly four hours on Sunday.
Residents in the Asuran feeder area reported repeated daytime cuts, prompting protests late Saturday night over prolonged blackouts.
In Maharajganj, Deoria and Kushinagar, residents complained of erratic supply and faulty transformers. Rural consumers in Kushinagar alleged they were receiving barely six hours of electricity daily.
“Electricity demand has risen abnormally because of the extreme heat, leading to transformer failures and frequent tripping due to overloading. Our teams are working round the clock to replace damaged transformers and restore supply,” a senior power department official said. HTC
