Sirsa swelters under long power cuts amid upgrade work

As temperatures soar to 43°C, residents of Sirsa are battling long and frequent power outages due to an ongoing electricity infrastructure upgrade. Launched in November, the Rs 55-crore project is yet to be completed, causing widespread disruption.

The city’s electricity complaint centre is logging over 300 calls daily. Power supply in rural areas is being cut from 8 am to 6.30 pm for wheat harvesting, while city dwellers face hours-long outages during the day. On Tuesday, several parts of the city, including Circular Road, Shiv Chowk, Rania Gate, Rori Bazaar, and Mohata Market, were without power from 4 am to 9 am.

“The cuts are happening even in areas where no visible work is taking place,” said frustrated locals.

Power demand has surged with the rising heat. The district’s consumption jumped from 40 lakh units to 42 lakh units in two days, with Sirsa city alone using over 10 lakh units daily. Overloaded transformers are beginning to fail.

Business owners complain the outages are affecting their livelihoods. “Inverters stop working, and customers avoid the heat,” said shopkeepers like Man Singh, Roshan Garg, and Ravindra Bajaj. They criticised the timing of the upgrade, saying, “This should have been done in winter.”

DHBVN City XEN Dheeraj Kumar said upgrade work is underway in Sirsa and nearby subdivisions, including Panjuana, Kharia, Madhosinghana, and Ding. So far, 15 out of 50 planned transformers have been replaced. “Our staff are working day and night. Once the upgrade is complete, power cuts will reduce,” he assured.

Farmers have also been warned not to harvest wheat directly under power lines to avoid fire hazards caused by sparks.

Haryana Tribune