The storm accompanying the rain turned the joy of escape from sweat sour, triggering prolonged power cut.

The thunderstorm uprooted electric poles and snapped supply lines, leaving residents powerless. The blackout lasted for at least six hours in eastern and western Patna, exposing the hollowness of the tall claims of Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu). The power disruption affected the water supply big time.

Manoj Kumar Singh, a resident of Sandalpur in the Kumhrar area, said: “Chief minister Nitish Kumar should stop making hollow promises about providing uninterrupted power supply.”

Advocate and resident of Rajeev Nagar Ravindra Kumar Singh said: “The thunderstorm exposed the state government and the power company. It took Pesu six hours to restore the power supply. I went to the high court without taking a bath. We could not operate the motor pump in the absence of power.”

Ashiana Nagar resident Saroj Verma was not too perturbed, though. She said: “The schools are closed for summer vacation and my biggest concern — to get my children ready was not there. The lack of water, especially in the morning, was a problem though.”

From 6.30 in the morning, trees fell on the 33KV and 11KV lines in eastern and western Patna. Wires were snapped and electric poles were uprooted in different areas of the city during the storm.

The Pesu officials claimed that they acted swiftly and restored the supply in most of the areas by 12noon.

Pesu general manager-cum-chief engineer Vijay Kumar said: “The thunderstorm led to a massive disruption of power supply. In several areas, wires were snapped because trees fell on them. That led to the delay in restoring the supply. We restored the power supply by 12noon in the entire city, except a few places.”