Patna, June 1: Tiger Yogendra Singh, a resident of Korji village, has recently shifted to his daughter’s house in Kankerbagh.

Reason: A burnt transformer in the village has not been replaced even after 10 days, throwing the residents’ life out of gear. This, when chief minister Nitish Kumar has issued a directive to Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) to replace burnt transformers within 24 hours in urban areas and 72 hours in rural areas.

In the face of unavailability of power in Korji, around 3,000 residents are forced to live in the sweltering heat and their daily routine has gone for a toss. The residents have made rounds of the offices concerned but no one is ready to hear their grievances.

In such a situation, Singh has temporarily shifted to his daughter’s house. His wife said: “He has been ill for quite a few days. It is difficult for him to spend an hour without power, particularly in such blistering heat. So we decided to move to my daughter’s house.”

Another resident of the village, Dinesh Kumar Sharma, told The Telegraph: “We have written to every official, right from the sub-divisional officer of Phulwarisharif to the general manager of Central Electricity Supply Area (Cesa), to replace the burnt transformer. We are forced to live in this condition even when about 90 per cent of the consumers in the village pay their bills on time.”

Cesa is responsible for supplying power in rural Patna.

Sharma added: “There is an increased requirement of power in summer but we have to depend on generators to fill our water tanks. This is happening in a regime whose chief minister claims to replace transformers within 24 hours. But it is unfortunate that even after 10 days the board has failed to replace a single transformer, that too in the state capital.”

The Telegraph tried to contact B.K. Sinha, the Cesa general manager, on Saturday. However, he was not available on his phone the entire day as he was busy in a BSEB meeting. He did not even respond to SMS query by The Telegraph.

When The Telegraph tried to contact him later in the evening, Sinha picked up the phone only to say that he was busy at a cultural programme and would apprise The Telegraph on Sunday on the issue of replacing the transformer.

When The Telegraph again spoke to Sinha today, reminding him that the burnt transformer in Korji was not yet replaced, Sinha said: “It is being delayed as a new transformer has to be installed there (Korji village). Normally, we replace transformers in the urban area within 24 hours. But since this area falls in the rural region, it will take some time.”