Bhubaneswar, Aug. 22: A large part of Rourkela and its neighbourhood experienced power cut for nine hours today as the Western Electricity Supply Company (Wesco) shutdown its grid station at Chhend for maintenance work.

Residential areas such as Koelnagar, Basanti Colony, Chhend, Kalinga Vihar, Ved Vyas, Biramitrapur and Kuanrmunda remained without power from around 8am to 5pm.

Wesco superintending engineer A.N. Meher said: "Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) has taken up its maintenance work. So, there was a power cut. We, however, had informed the public about the drive."

The OPTCL undertakes maintenance work at least once a year. The Chhend grid supplies power to a large area.

"We had to undertake power cut for such a long duration because there are many intricate works to be done," said an OPTCL employee.

"We checked all the major and minor transformers, connections and other things," said Meher.

Of late, residents started complaining about frequent power cuts. Following today's drive, many are hopeful that things would improve.

"I think that the problem of frequent power cuts will not be there any more," said Koelnagar resident Sunil Das.

But, Meher said: "These are the maintenance works. Power cuts occur due to various reasons. But, any problem arising due to lack of maintenance has to be resolved."