Residents of Sector 41 alleged their locality experienced an electricity disruption lasting nearly five hours on Friday, with some saying power outages have become a recurring issue in the area.
According to residents, the outage during peak summer heat affected their household activities and caused inconvenience. Officials of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), however, disputed their claim, saying the interruption lasted only about 10 minutes on two occasions on Friday due to a fault in the power line.
Sector 41 houses around 8,000 residents across 10 residential blocks, spanning across 1,800 flats. The power outage on Friday was the third instance this month reported by residents. On June 4, the area had an almost 12 hour outage after thunderstorms were reported in the city. UPPCL officials said that the disruption was caused by fallen trees, which damaged two transformers.
Residents also alleged that another outage on June 10 lasted nearly six hours, following another thunderstorm.
“From around 9 am till 1 pm, there was no electricity in the society. This is the condition we are living in. We get some excuse from UPPCL about the outages, but no solution,” said Vijay Singh, a 74-year-old resident.
“We have senior citizens living here, along with families with children. How are they expected to bear such heat? When we try to contact UPPCL, they don’t respond. We have to visit the substation to get answers. There is no backup arrangement and no support for residents,” said Shivam Pathak, another resident.
Residents said most households rely on inverters as backup, which can power only basic appliances such as lights and fans for about three hours.
Mohit Dixit, executive engineer, UPPCL, said the department had no record of a prolonged outage on Friday.
“There were previous power disruptions due to thunderstorms. On Friday, however, the supply was interrupted for about 10 minutes on two occasions because of a fault in the power line,” he said.
Addressing residents’ concerns over recurring outages, Dixit said the existing infrastructure is being upgraded.
“The existing 33kV power line supplying electricity to Sector 41 from the Sector 42 substation via Bhangel is old. A proposal to lay a new line for Sector 42 and adjoining areas has already been approved, and the work is expected to be completed within 15 to 20 days,” Dixit said.
