Power cuts across UP; Lucknow rural hit too

LUCKNOW: The strike called by Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti (VKSSS) caused a massive power outage across the state.
For instance, rural areas of state capital Lucknow were affected for several hours. There were reports that eight feeders were shut in Mohanlalganj area, five in Gosaiganj and three in Puranpur. There was no power supply in Amethi, Nigohan, Samesi areas too. However, the urban area under Lesa did not report any power outage for long hours.
Meanwhile, in Kanpur where Kesco supplies power, engineers refused to attend power complaints. "Over 60 feeders, including 185 transformers, have been shut down in areas such as Gumti, Fazalganj, Dada Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Barra and others, to support the strike," said Vijay Tripathi, spokesperson of VKSSS Kanpur unit. Around 1.5 lakh consumers in the district were directly affected due to the strike.
Due to power outage, in Varanasi, people were severely affected in Naibasti Pandeypur, Englishialine, Paredkothi, Maldahiya, Sidhgiri Bagh, localities connected with Maidagin, Ramnagar, Sarnath, Kandva and other areas. Residents complained of unavailability of water, as for most of them submersible pumps were the main source to extract water.
The Indian Industries Association's (IIA) Varanasi unit convened an emergency meeting. IIA's national vice-president RK Chaudhary, national secretary Rajesh Bhatia and other industrialists alleged that power cuts since Thursday night had left all industries in Ramnagar industrial area defunct. In Prayagraj, there was hardly anyone at substations to repair power faults. "There was no power supply in the campus," said MLN Medical College principal Dr SP Singh.