Football fans in Bhubaneswar and across the state could not watch much of the Brazil-Germany match, which was telecast live from the The Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, because of frequent power cuts on Tuesday night. (AFP)

Bhubaneswar, July 9: On Tuesday night, when Germany was making mockery of the Brazilian defence, closer home frequent power cuts spoiled much of the fun of football lovers here.

Frequent power cuts in the city have hit one and all, but the worst affected have been the football fans, who keep awake till morning to watch the World Cup that has entered the final stage.

“Last night, during the semi-final match between Brazil and Germany, the power tripped thrice. While it was such a huge setback on the field at Belo Horizonte, at home it became quite a frustrating experience to watch the match,” said Gourav Pradhan, a die-hard Brazil fan, who cursed on the electricity suppliers for playing spoilsport last night.

Not only Mancheswar resident Pradhan, but also residents of other parts of the city and the state had to undergo the ordeal of having without electricity at night. There were frequent disruptions.

“It was difficult to sleep as the electricity was playing hide and seek. With the humid condition prevailing, it was tough getting a little sleep at night when fans and air-conditioners stopped functioning,” said Khandagiri resident Swati Mishra.

The power cut has been going on for the past two days in the city and an official said it would continue for next few days as six central sector thermal units had been shut down due to technical problems. Besides, the power supply has been under strain due to low supply from the hydropower projects, which have been affected by erratic rainfall till date.

“Today, two of the six thermal power units got repaired. We hope that by next two to three days, the situation would change a bit,” said P.K. Pradhan, director (commerce), Gridco.

Officials also predicted that lesser rain in the next couple of days might aggravate the power generation.

While people have been wishing for restoration of power supply that would streamline their lives, football fans have gone one step forward and pray for no power cut during the second semi-final match tonight and the grand finale on July 13.

Though rain would affect the signals and watching matches would be difficult, many football fans, however, wished for torrential rain for next two to three days, hoping that it would solve the problem to some extent.

“I am getting more of a theist now as I want to watch a proper final match. I am praying for some rain for the next three days — which would help power generation and there would be no power cut on Sunday night,” said Sudipt Panda, a club football player and Germany fan.