April 2: The state was not left behind as the World Cup fever gripped the entire nation, but the power situation played spoilsport.

Most people in the districts missed the final battle for supremacy, thanks to the regular irregular supply of electricity.

The residents of the state capital, however, were fortunate to get uninterrupted power supply.

Power supply played truant in several districts, including Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Chhapra, Gaya and Motihari, increasing the heartbeats of some of the residents.

The Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) had requested the NTPC and the NHPC to increase the state’s allocation on the day of the final match.

“We have been getting 1,090MW of power supply against our scheduled allocation of 1,722MW from the central sector apart from receiving 77-78MW and 60MW separately from Kanti and Barauni plants respectively,” BSEB spokesman H.R. Pandey told The Telegraph.

Asked whether the board would be able to make similar arrangements as it had done during the nerve-setting Indo-Pak match last Wednesday, Pandey said: “We will put in all the efforts to supply power throughout the state so that people can watch the match.”

Pankaj Kumar of Kashi Bazaar, Chhapra, was restless as he was finding it tough to watch the match. “Power has been failing constantly. I have got no genset and the inverter is discharged. How do I watch the final?” he asked.

In Purnea, cricket lovers made alternative arrangements. They installed around 16 projectors at different places in Purnea City fitted with generators.

The magnitude and severity of the impact that the game of cricket had on the people could be gauged from the fact that many companies even announced a holiday today.

“After defeating Pakistan convincingly in the semi-final, India’s chances are good to win. But the problem is the availability of electricity might prevent us from enjoying the match. The situation has been particularly bad over the past few days,” Janmejay Kumar, a resident of Kankerbagh colony, said.