Lucknow Irked with prolonged power cuts at night amid sweltering heat, irate residents have given vent to their anger at six substations in the state capital during the past one month. At some substations, police had to intervene to maintain peace.
After disruption of power supply in Bangla Bazar at 10.15 pm on Friday night, residents kept on waiting for restoration till 3.30 am Saturday. When power supply was not restored, some locals entered the Bangla Bazar substation and shut down all the feeders supplying other areas linked to the substation. The scared staff of the substation ran away fearing a backlash from the residents. Later, police were called and they brought the situation under control after slight use of power .
Executive engineer Bhagat Singh said, “The power supply was disrupted due to an underground cable fault which was located and repaired at 6.30 am in the morning.”
He said, “Locating the underground cable fault is not easy, but our staff located it and repaired it.”
Earlier, angry residents mobbed the substation at Nadan Mahal Road on April 3, following a 10-hour power cut. On April 5, angry residents and traders again created a ruckus at this substation following another prolonged power cut. On April 11, residents demonstrated at Ashiana substation due to a 10-hour power cut. On May 14, people demonstrated in the Chowk Sarrafa Bazar over the power crisis for more than 8 hours. On May 16, due to a cable fault in Rajnikhand, there was a power failure for 18 hours and agitated people created a ruckus outside the substation.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, angry residents mobbed the substation at Nadan Mahal Road on April 3, following a 10-hour power cut. On April 5, angry residents and traders again created a ruckus at this substation following another prolonged power cut. On April 11, residents demonstrated at Ashiana substation due to a 10-hour power cut. On May 14, people demonstrated in the Chowk Sarrafa Bazar over the power crisis for more than 8 hours. On May 16, due to a cable fault in Rajnikhand, there was a power failure for 18 hours and agitated people created a ruckus outside the substation.
{{/usCountry}}LESA officials say that demand during summer has increased beyond expectations, touching around 1400 MW during peak hours. Now load on all the transformer’s has increased so LESA is working to strengthen its infrastructure to combat prolonged power cuts. Besides that, instructions have been given to attend local faults at the earliest so that power cuts due to local faults do not create unrest among the residents.