UP reels under prolonged power cuts as residents flag mounting hardship amid heatwaves

Lucknow, May 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Large parts of Uttar Pradesh are reeling under prolonged power cuts amid intense heatwave conditions, with residents of the state's Maharajganj, Mirzapur, and Basti districts reporting severe disruptions to daily life, agriculture and business, while Electricity Department officials attributed the crisis to rising faults and staff shortages.

In Maharajganj district, residents voiced frustration over what they described as worsening outages during one of the hottest periods of the season.

A local resident alleged that power cuts were lasting 13 to 14 hours a day, with electricity frequently going off for three to four hours at night as well.

"Children are suffering due to extreme heat. Farmers are worried as they are neither able to get diesel nor electricity. How will the pumping sets run? The government has completely failed this time. This situation seems to be the same across Uttar Pradesh. If even the capital Lucknow is not getting electricity, then how can we expect it living in a semi-urban township,” the resident told IANS.

Another resident in Maharajganj accused the administration of failing to respond to public concerns and warned of a larger public agitation if the issue was not addressed soon.

"The electricity situation is extremely poor, and the administration seems completely unconcerned. Neither the MLA nor the MP has been able to make any meaningful intervention on this issue. The government is running on a double-engine model, yet traders, farmers and ordinary people are being exploited. I feel a major movement on this issue will begin soon. It is very important for the us to raise voice over this, otherwise the situation is likely to worsen significantly in the coming time," the resident said.

Responding to the complaints, Maharajganj MLA Rishi Tripathi told IANS that the intense heat had led to a spike in faults across multiple areas.

"Due to the intense heat, faults are being reported from many areas. Because of these faults, the power supply has to be interrupted. There are several other reasons as well. We are continuously making efforts, and whenever any issue is reported by consumers, engineers from the electricity department are addressing and resolving it," Tripathi said.

In a related development, a junior engineer posted in Maharajganj’s Sonauli area was served a show-cause notice over alleged negligence, including remaining absent during outages and reportedly failing to respond to calls from the local MLA.

In Mirzapur too, residents reported prolonged outages.

"The electricity situation here is very bad. Electricity is available for only four to five hours a day. It is difficult to sleep, and people are not even getting cold drinking water. While some things are manageable, there are major problems with electricity here," a local resident said.

A similar situation was reported from Basti district, where residents in Bhuar Niranjanpur village and nearby Mahso Road said erratic power supply was making nights especially difficult.

"When we go to sleep at night, there is no electricity, so we are forced to sleep outside the house. The power supply is irregular; sometimes it comes, sometimes it goes. There is no one to complain to, and no one listens," a resident said.

Officials in Basti cited a shortage of staff as one of the reasons behind the disruptions.

The widespread outages have added to the distress caused by the ongoing heatwave, with residents demanding urgent intervention by the government to stabilise supply as temperatures continue to remain high across the state.

Source: IANS