Power blues for Lucknow residents amid soaring temps, increased demand
Amid soaring temperatures and increased power demand in the state capital, residents continue to face frequent outages despite repeated promises over the past five years by different ministers to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.
This year, the state government has spent ₹400 crore under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) to upgrade the power infrastructure, but power cuts persist across Lucknow, much like previous years.
Despite promises of rapid upgrades, the work under RDSS to replace old, dangling wires with modern armoured cables continues to be sluggish. The project, now in its second phase of implementation, is forcing routine shutdowns across 7 to 10 localities every day. These power cuts, which often stretch from four to eight hours, are frequently carried out without prior notice, leaving residents unprepared, especially during peak daytime heat.
In the past week alone, power demand in Lucknow surged by 400 megawatts, with Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) reporting a demand of 1,564 MW on Thursday. According to officials, this figure may climb to 2,000 MW in the coming days.
While residents are facing short but increasingly frequent outages, the feeder system design is also contributing to larger-scale power disruptions. Each feeder connects 10 to 15 transformers, and when maintenance or faults occur in a single transformer, the entire cluster must be shut down to ensure worker safety. As a result, even minor issues are now affecting more households than before.
'We are witnessing more than five power cuts during the daytime,' said Vishal Srivastava, a resident of Hardoi Road. 'Sub-station staff say that the sudden spike in demand is overloading equipment, causing low-voltage issues and frequent outages.'
Rajat Juneja, LESA chief engineer and RDSS in-charge for Lucknow, acknowledged the problem, but maintained complete shutdowns are necessary for safety. 'There is always a risk of electrocution during cable replacement or fault repairs, so shutdowns are essential. However, we are trying to minimise power cuts.'
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