Power cuts are being reported from multiple pockets of Calcutta, piling more agony on people already reeling from a heat assault.
Several homes in Kasba remained without power for close to two hours on Thursday night.
“Power supply may have been interrupted due to a breakdown in our local Network. Sorry for the inconvenience. We are trying our best to restore supply at the earliest,” read a message from CESC.
On the afternoon of April 2, another neighbourhood in Behala suffered a similar experience. There could be more examples in and around the city.
A CESC official attributed the power outages in the past few days to “local” problems.
“We have not had any major issues. Local glitches have led to some disruptions. But they have been resolved as soon as possible,” he told Metro on Friday.
Last summer, long spells of power cuts were reported from several parts of the city and people’s frustrations poured out frequently on social media and often on streets in many places. Police had to set up pickets at CESC distribution centres at multiple places.
A Kasba resident said his home suffered a power cut around 11.15pm on Thursday. The supply was restored at 1.15am.
“In this heat, a power cut means double torment. We were forced to stay awake until the supply was restored,” said the Kasba resident.
On Friday, the Met office recorded a maximum temperature of 36.7 degrees Celsius in Alipore. It was two notches above normal.
In the districts, the Celsius breached the 40-
degree mark. Panagarh in West Burdwan was the hottest place in Bengal with a maximum temperature of 41.8 degrees, almost six notches above normal.
Suri in Birbhum sizzled at 41 degrees. Bankura saw a maximum temperature of 40.5 degrees. In Barrackpore, on the northern fringes on Calcutta, the maximum was 39.2 degrees.
The sultry conditions are likely to continue, said a Met bulletin on Friday.
In Behala, scores of homes in AK Paul Road and adjoining lanes — five minutes from the Calcutta Blind School on DH Road — suffered a power outage that lasted close to two hours on Tuesday afternoon.
“The power supply snapped around 1.30pm and was restored around 4pm,” said a 63-year-old woman.
Last year, many parts of Calcutta suffered frequent power cuts in what has been the hottest spell in several years in the city.
Officials of the CESC had said the main reason behind these power outages was the use of electrical appliances — mainly air-conditioners — beyond the sanctioned load.
The overloading had prompted the utility to issue a message: “Our city is facing an unprecedented heatwave. We appeal to all consumers for judicious use of electrical appliances, to restrict extreme overloading ofelectrical network….”
Use of appliances whose load is beyond the sanctioned load of a consumer’s meter can lead to tripping of the power supply to his or her home. Several people doing the same in a neighbourhood can trip the power of the entire area.
The CESC official said on Friday that the demand had not yet peaked so much that it would cause overloading and resultant outages.
“We have not yet reached that situation,” he said.
The peak demand has been just above 2,200MW for the past few days, not unusual for this time of the year, said the official.