In what appears to be an unprecedented move amid growing public anger over prolonged power cuts and incidents of unrest at substations, the Lucknow administration has ordered deployment of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel at 31 ‘sensitive’ substations across the city from Saturday evening onwards.
The decision on PAC deployment was taken during a high-level review meeting on the city’s power supply system on Friday after officials flagged repeated incidents of crowds gathering outside substations, obstructing repair work and allegedly threatening technical staff during outages.
Enhanced surveillance and continuous monitoring have been ordered to prevent vandalism, crowding and disruption of power restoration work.
Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Babloo Kumar said, “After multiple incidents of mob gathering and road blocks, each police station in the city, especially in the rural areas, have been put on alert with increased night patrolling to maintain law and order. Action will also be taken against unlawful and unruly activities.”
The step comes even as an FIR against 100 to 150 unidentified people in the PGI area sharpened the focus on growing law and order challenge faced by the Lucknow police on the issue. The FIR was lodged on May 21.
According to officials, deployment of PAC personnel is aimed at ensuring uninterrupted repair work, safeguarding critical electricity infrastructure and protecting employees working under pressure during extreme summer conditions.
{{/usCountry}}According to officials, deployment of PAC personnel is aimed at ensuring uninterrupted repair work, safeguarding critical electricity infrastructure and protecting employees working under pressure during extreme summer conditions.
{{/usCountry}}Police officials said repeated power cuts amid soaring temperatures are increasingly leading to spontaneous gatherings outside substations, traffic disruptions and confrontations between residents and officials in several police station areas.
Ravi Agarwal, chief engineer, LESA (Lucknow central), said the situation becomes volatile particularly during night time peak-load hours when electricity demand surges and faults take longer to restore.
The LESA chief engineer said, “The safety and security of LESA staff remains a priority, as employees work round the clock to ensure uninterrupted power supply for residents, despite facing attacks during outages.”
He also said that the administration had been requested to provide security support and responded positively to the appeal. At present, four PAC personnel have been deployed at the Utrethia and Faizullaganj Substation, while PAC teams for other centres remain available on call and are expected to respond immediately whenever required.
Officials said local police stations are increasingly being forced to divert manpower towards electricity-related crowd control duties, with personnel now being stationed near substations and sensitive pockets witnessing frequent outages.
In several instances, police teams have also accompanied electricity department staff during repair work to prevent public unrest and ensure restoration work is completed without disruption.
Officials of the Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) reportedly sought additional security cover after several incidents in which engineers and linemen faced resistance while attempting to restore supply.
The administration has also intensified technical and administrative monitoring of key substations across the city. Senior officers from Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (MVVNL), including chief, superintending and executive engineers, have been assigned direct responsibility for supervising sensitive substations.
Vulnerable substations include Chinhat, Utrethia Old and New, Rajajipuram Old and New, Dubagga, New Alambagh, Kamta, Gomti Nagar-linked installations, Chowpatia, Faizullaganj, Nadarganj, Gosainganj, Engineering College and several others spread across densely populated zones.
In a parallel strategy, the power department has stationed senior headquarters-level officers at major substations to oversee operations in real time. Officials said the step was necessary as rising electricity loads at night were increasingly resulting in local tensions and complaints from residents affected by outages.
Officers assigned for direct supervision include chief engineers Naresh Kumar, BK Singh, Manish Gupta and Neeraj Kumar, along with several superintending and executive engineers who will coordinate restoration work and monitor law and order at designated substations.
Power department officials admitted that repeated outages during the ongoing heatwave have sharply increased pressure on field teams. In some areas, residents reportedly surrounded substations late at night demanding immediate restoration, creating operational difficulties for technical staff.
The administration warned that strict action would be taken against anyone found obstructing government work, damaging public infrastructure or intimidating electricity employees. Officials said maintaining uninterrupted power supply has become the administration’s priority as temperatures continue to rise across the state capital.
Police officials said protests linked to electricity outages have been reported from multiple localities over the past few days, particularly during evening and night hours when temperatures remain high and power demand peaks.
The latest such case was registered at PGI police station after residents allegedly blocked Rae Bareli Road near the Utrethia underpass while protesting electricity outages.
According to the FIR lodged by sub-inspector Durgesh Singh, protesters gathered near the underpass and blocked the busy route over disruption in power supply, severely affecting traffic movement.
Police teams from nearby units were deployed to the spot after the crowd swelled and commuters remained stranded on the stretch for hours.
The FIR states that when police personnel asked the protesters to vacate the road and restore movement, some among the crowd allegedly argued with the police team, used abusive language and obstructed government work.
The case was subsequently registered under sections related to unlawful assembly, obstruction of public servants and criminal intimidation under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.