Calcutta, April 12: Power cuts conspired with the scorching sun and soaring humidity to torment south Bengal today.

The situation is unlikely to change in the next 24 hours as the power utilities rolled out a list of units that need repairs and the weatherman predicted a sweltering Sunday.

A new 300MW unit at Sagardighi and a 210MW Kolaghat unit were shut down today. A 500MW National Thermal Power Corporation unit at Farakka has not been working for the past two days.

CESC said the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company curtailed supply in the morning, making matters worse. “We had to resort to power cuts from 8.21am,” a CESC official said.

At noon, the shortfall in the city shot up to 50MW.

The state company improved supply later in the day and there was no deficit in Calcutta between 4pm and 8pm.

The situation changed again as the state utility struggled to cope with a 350MW deficit in the districts.

The city and its neighbourhood suffered power cuts for about an hour on an average from 8pm till late tonight.

The Met office said a sudden shift in the wind pattern has led to incursion of more moisture from the Bay.

“We expect the day to be even more uncomfortable tomorrow,” said G.C. Debnath, director of the weather section at the Alipore Met office.