Noida: Frequent power outages across Noida and Ghaziabad have added to the intense discomfort caused by the rising temperature and excess humidity. Areas such as Abhay Khand, Gyan Khand, and Nyay Khand in Ghaziabad experienced intermittent to prolonged power cuts that lasted almost a day. In Noida, voltage fluctuations were reported from sectors 19, 43, 55, 12 and 72 from Monday to Tuesday.In Khoda’s Vishwanath Colony, a transformer fire led to a power cut that began late Monday night and continued till Tuesday morning. While the fire was doused and no lives were lost, four motorcycles and one autorickshaw were destroyed.A fire department officer said they received information about the fire at around 12.30am. Due to the narrow access road, the larger fire tankers could not reach the site. About 700-800 metres of hose lines was used so that water could reach the fire. The officer said the fire had already spread to some vehicles, posing a risk to the nearby houses.Chief engineer of Ghaziabad power department, Zone 3, PVVNL, Brijesh Kumar, told TOI that the damaged cables were “urgently replaced” and power supply in the area was restored.Another electricity department official said power demand has increased drastically in the area — while Ghaziabad was using 2,050 MW till Sunday, the demand has now increased to 2,500 MW in the last two days.In Noida, Sector 19 RWA president RC Gupta said many residents were disappointed that power disruptions continued despite the electricity department getting substantially high funding from UP govt. “Why is the supply failing repeatedly? In the last three years, the Noida power department has received Rs 400 crore as funds. Every year, it is promised that there will be no outages in the summer. But the situation never changes,” he said.RWA president of Sector 72, Satish Pandey, said inadequate planning and severe staff shortage within the Noida Authority are responsible for the frequent power cuts. He called for immediate revisions to the city’s infrastructure to accommodate its growing population.Noida’s power demand has risen to 2,700 MW in the past two days.However, electricity department officials attributed the outages to several works being done under RDSS and SCADA schemes in both districts, adding that local snags cannot be seen as a lapse on the part of the department.
