Patna, Sept. 20: The rain from last night gave the city dwellers the much-needed respite from the heat but triggered power blues this morning. Several localities in the western part of the city remained powerless for three to four hours. Electricity played truant at some places in Danapur and Digha also.

The incessant shower triggered fault in the 33KV underground cable near the railway overbridge on Bailey Road. It had a cascading effect on Khagaul II and Canal feeders that supply power to the majority of the areas in the western part of the town.

The excessive rain also affected the Danapur I and II feeders. A few electric poles bowed down on cables, affecting power supply in some parts of Danapur and Digha.

The power pinch was the most in the western part of the city. Areas like Rajabazaar, Jagdeo Path, Ashiana Nagar, Sheikhpura, Samanpura, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Veterinary Hospital, Patliputra, Rajiv Nagar, New Patliputra Colony, Nehru Nagar, Kesri Nagar, Indrapuri, Mahesh Nagar, West and East Patel Nagar remained powerless for four to six hours.

Electricity played truant for three to four hours in areas like Anandpuri, Boring Road, Boring Canal Road and Mainpura, sources said.

S.K. Srivastava, the superintendent engineer (west) of Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu), told The Telegraph: “We restored the power supply by 1pm. A fault in the 33KV cable triggered the power failure in those areas.”

Srivastava conceded that the power supply could not be restored in the areas connected by Danapur I & II feeders till the filing of the report.

The heavy rain from last night exposed the chinks in the infrastructure of power supply in the city.

Recently, Pesu chalked out an action plan to provide round-the-clock power to the Patnaites. But its authorities did not divulge the date from when the service would start perhaps because they were well aware of their limitations.

Vivek Kumar, a resident of Kesri Nagar, said: “The long power cuts today drilled a hole in the tall claim of Pesu to provide uninterrupted power. It cannot even tackle a long spell of rain. I am ready to pay premium energy charge if Pesu ensures round-the-clock power supply. But given the situation, it seems a distant dream.”

Manoj Kumar Singh, a resident of LIC Colony in Kankerbagh, said: “The way the power plays truant in Patna, it doesn’t seem to be a capital. Every now and then power goes off. When power plays truant in the morning, people cannot get ready for office. The government should address the issue on a priority basis.”