As the temperature in the city soars, frequent power outages have left the residents of Kolkata and outskirts sweltering. Reports of power outages have been coming in from various areas, including Rajarhat, Bidhannagar, North Dum Dum, Dhakuria, Thakurpukur areas and Picnic Gardens, as well as several neighborhoods of Howrah for the past few days. Yesterday the state minister of power, Aroop Biswas, met with top officials of CESC at the headquarters. In the meeting, CESC was asked to provide uninterrupted electricity.

In case of mechanical failures, customers will be informed via SMS. Additionally, CESC has been instructed to increase mobile vans, power generators and workers deployed for maintenance. Amidst the scorching heat, buses and trains are running almost empty during the daytime, and the streets are nearly deserted. However, there is no respite even indoors. Similar to last year, frequent power outages have left the residents of Kolkata panicked. People from several areas that saw power cuts staged protests yesterday. In Dhakuria, the situation turned worse since Thursday as local residents claimed that at around 12:00 a.m. that night, there was a sudden explosion in the transformer, followed by a fire. Several houses were left without electricity.

An engine from fire department arrived to extinguish the fire. Local resident Kalikinkar Mukhopadhyay alleged: “Despite repeated calls to CESC, when no action was taken, I called the fire station. CESC workers arrived only after receiving news from the police. However, if they want to provide a temporary solution, we will post it on social media. Then CESC pays attention to the issue. They brought a generator and restored temporary power supply.” A CESC sources however said that there was no problem with the transformer. Overloading on the underground lines due to rampant AC installations caused disasters. After learning about the matter, temporary electricity is being provided to the area through generators. Underground cables are being inspected.

According to local residents, there have been sudden transformer explosions. After that, several houses lost electricity. Although power was restored in 70 houses last night, the rest remained without electricity until Friday night. Residents claim that transformer failures have been occurring suddenly during April and May for the past few years. Over the past five to seven days, electricity has been going off during the day or late at night. These were reported to the local power authority (CESC).

CESC workers were seen working at the scene in the afternoon. Local resident Sandipa Bag alleged that power outages occurred again in several houses in the area. Although electricity was restored in some houses after three hours, the entire thirty-three-storey building plunged into darkness until Friday night. The incident site this time was Thakurpukur Road in Dhakuria and the surrounding area.