April 15: Vast stretches of south Bengal experienced another day of sporadic power cuts amid fears that the summer could make things worse.

The demand for power across the state has gone up by about 250 mw compared to last year. State electricity board officials said to tide over the crisis, it had entered into a pact with the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) in February for supply of 200 mw during the peak hours.

?But the supply from the DVC has so far been irregular. We are also taking about 25 mw from Tripura. But we might have to bear with a shortfall to the tune of 350-400 mw from Monday evening,? an official said.

Power board member (commercial) M.K. Roy, however, said attempts were on to purchase power from other sources.

The shortage was not felt as much today being a holiday, said an official.

At a programme in East Midnapore, power minister Mrinal Banerjee said another reason behind the shortage was a drop in supply from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plants at Talcher and Farakka.

The NTPC has been supplying less than the usual amount to the state grid because of mechanical problems at Talcher. ?We are experiencing power cuts in the evening because of inadequate supply from the central sector,? Banerjee said at the DVC unit at Nimtauri in East Midnapore, 75 km from Calcutta.

In addition to the shortfall because of the rise in demand, the collapse of the 210-mw fifth unit in Bandel on Wednesday compounded the situation. An official said: ?The demand has soared to about 3,800 mw ? 2,600 mw in state board and 1,200 mw in CESC areas.?