Bhubaneswar, May 8: The searing heat is not the only thing that residents of Rasulgarh, Palasuni and GGP Colony have to contend with.

Frequent power cuts and long hours without electricity have made the summer even more unbearable for residents of these areas. Regular power cuts since last night has affected around 5,000 people, who are forced to wait long hours for the resumption of supply.

The mercury has been hovering around the 40°C mark for the past week and the regular power cuts have compounded the misery for the residents of these areas.

These areas had already been witnessing frequent power cuts from the beginning of the summer. However, those were short in duration and lasted around 10 to 15 minutes.

The prolonged power cuts since yesterday has also irked local residents.

"Yesterday's temperature was above 40°C and there were frequent power cuts during the day. However, those were of short duration and the situation was still manageable," said Ajay Tripathy, a resident of Rasulgarh.

"There was another power cut around 11pm and it lasted for around 2 hours. It was unbearable," he said.

The residents' ordeal did not end there as the power cuts continued till this afternoon.

"There were frequent power cuts in the area with some lasting for more than one hour. It was extremely hot and humid in the afternoon and in the absence of power, we were left with no option," said Pradeep Mohanty, a resident of GGP Colony.

This is not the first time that residents of the city have been forced to bear the brunt of power cuts in the middle of summer.

Angry over frequent power cuts in humid conditions, residents of Khandagiri had ransacked the section office of the Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) last June. The agitators had also torched a motorcycle and an auto-rickshaw after the area witnessed a power cut for around four hours in a single night.

Local residents today demanded immediate steps from Cesu to prevent power cuts, even of shorter durations, on other days.

"We are apprehending that the temperature will remain over 40°C on most of the days this month. A power cut for even 10 minutes will become a nightmare," said Chittaranjan Kar, a local resident.

"The state government had already assured uninterrupted power supply this summer. It is upto the distribution company to ensure it," Kar said.

However, an official of Cesu sidestepped the question of uninterrupted power supply and, instead, put the blame on the residents.

"There is no short supply of power. The power cuts are being caused by the overloading, attributed to the use of air conditioners," said an official of Cesu, which supplies power to these areas.

Officials of Cesu also attributed the latest problem to a road mishap on Sunday night at Palasuni Square.

"A truck rammed into an electric pole that damaged the supply line. This affected two feeder lines, causing the power cuts in those areas," said M. Das, manager (electrical), Bhubaneswar Electrical Division.

"We partially restored electricity supply this morning. We are working hard to completely restore supply," Das said.

Police said the stone-laden truck was going towards Cuttack from Khurda when it caused a pile-up. After hitting four vehicles, including two cars, the truck rammed into the electric pole. However, no causalities were reported in the incident.

The police have already seized the truck and detained the driver for questioning.