Sudden power cuts on Tuesday afternoon robbed Calcuttans of a few hours of the action in the second Pakistan-India one-dayer being played at Rawalpindi.

The power cuts, that lasted nearly three hours, were triggered by “a major fire” at the CESC’s 132-kv sub-station in Chakmir, near Budge Budge.

Fire brigade officials said the blaze erupted around 3 pm from some barrels of highly inflammable transformer oil stacked inside the sub-station. “In no time at all, tall pillars of flame, fed by the wind, rose up from a large section of the sub-station,” said a fireman.

Director of fire services B.M. Sen said his men handled the blaze quite quickly and efficiently as, being an oil fire, it could have spun out of control.

The sudden power cuts that blacked out television sets sparked protests and roadblocks, even as the Pakistani batsmen ran riot in Rawalpandi. At Ultadanga, in north Calcutta, and Gopalnagar, in the south, the police had to persuade residents to lift the blockades.

Power went off for a few minutes in the protected area of Writers’ Buildings, too.

At Chakmir, seven fire-tenders fought the blaze for two-and-a-half hours with water and foam. At one point, the water ran out and a fresh supply was pumped in from a nearby pond. A contingent from Mahestala police station rushed to the spot and barricaded the area.

The CESC authorities switched off supply through the sub-station around 3.15 pm. As a result, large areas of south, central and north Calcutta went without power. The sub-station distributes power from the 500-mw Budge Budge plant through two double circuits. One of them was badly damaged in the blaze.

Supply to the city was restored by 5.45 pm, well before Sachin Tendulkar took guard.