Rourkela, Aug. 7: Regular power cuts continue to cripple the district despite government assurances to the contrary.

"The power cut is not for maintenance work as it happens mostly in the evenings. One can understand power cuts during summer, why should there be power cuts during the monsoon?" said Sundargarh resident Bijaya Patel.

Similar complaints have been pouring in from areas such as Rairangpur, Rourkela and Bonai.

Western Electricity Supply Company of Odisha (Wesco) executive engineer Ranjan Nayak admitted the situation in the district. "It is due to heavy rain, which causes a fall in thermal production, forcing us to resort to power cuts during peak hour," Nayak said, adding that heavy rain created problems for the thermal power generation units.

"The reasons are several and this cannot be pin pointed. For example, the quality of coal gets compromised when it gets wet." When it was pointed out that people in coastal region were not facing power cuts, Nayak said: "I cannot comment on what is happening in another supply agency."

Energy minister Pranab Prakash Das said: "We do not have power cuts in Odisha anymore, but, yes, these problems with the thermal plants are natural for which they function little below their capacity (during the monsoon)."