Bidanasi grid from where electricity is supplied to various parts of Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 22: The Millennium City is sweltering with temperatures almost touching the 40°C mark. To make matters worse, people’s woes have been escalated by frequent power outages.

Residents of areas such as Pithapur, Dolmundai, Tulasipur, CDA and rural areas, including CRRI, Gandarpur and Mahanadi Vihar, have been severely hit because of the power cuts and voltage fluctuations over the last few days, which has left them sleepless.

“As if sweating through the soaring temperature was not enough, now people have to face the brunt of power cuts. These days every three hours we have a power cut that lasts from five minutes to 30 minutes. At times, there are power cuts even at night. This causes a lot of inconvenience, especially to children and senior citizens,” said Sujata Mishra, a resident of Pithapur.

Protesting against the frequent power cuts and low voltage, the residents of Mahanadi Vihar staged a demonstration outside the electricity office yesterday. They also threatened to stop clearing electricity bills if things don’t change for the better in the next few days.

“We staged a demonstration against repeated power cuts and voltage fluctuations that has increased in the last couple of days in the locality,” said Mahanadi Vihar Development Association president Ravindra Satpathy.

For a long time, the association had been pressing for the need to improve the power transmission and distribution system at Mahanadi Vihar, which was developed by the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) in 90s.

Though the authorities had assured to set up a 33/11KV electric sub-station at Mahanadi Vihar two years ago, no steps have been taken so far.

“Frequent disruptions in power supply have damaged our refrigerator. It has stopped working because of voltage fluctuations. You will find similar complaints from other households in the locality as well,” said Sushil Samal, a resident of Mahanadi Vihar.

Cuttack city requires 100 to 105MW of electricity during peak hours. Out of the total electricity, 85MW is being received from the Bidanasi grid while 16MW is being procured from the Cuttack grid.

“The power grids are receiving 50 to 60 per cent less system voltage for which there are fluctuations in power transmission,” said an official of Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu).

“Many areas are facing problems because of low voltage. This is being caused because of receipt of less system voltage,” said superintending engineer (electrical circle) Cuttack Sradhakar Rout.

The problem of low voltage is likely to continue till the power generation in hydropower plants and other thermal projects increases.