Uttar Pradesh faces acute power crisis: There is 2,000 MW shortage in state

Lucknow: The power crises situation in the most populous state of the country Uttar Pradesh has turned from bad to worse. The state is reeling under a severe power crisis on Tuesday after a major fault in a transmission line in the state's western region, officials said. "Due to congestion in the transmission line of the western region, the power supply to the northern region has been hit" a senior official said. He said on Monday afternoon, the line at Mudra Mahendragarh tripped due to high-voltage direct current (HVDC) even as Champa Kurukshetra line of the Power Corporation continues to be down. This led to acute power shortage in many parts of the state, leading to unscheduled power cuts and outages. Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Faizabad-Ayodhya and places from where the Kanwar Yatris are passing have been exempt from power cuts. At other places - district headquarters (six hours) and rural areas (eight to 10 hours) power cuts are taking place. There is a 2,000 MW shortage in the state. On Monday, the peak demand of power was 16,500 MW but only 14,500 MW was available. Electricity board officials have said that until the power supply in the western region is completely restored, power cuts will continue. On Saturday, something interesting happened in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh during Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Jan Shatabdi Diwas event. As one of the cabinet ministers in Yogi Adityanath government started his address, power cut off. Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary was the chief guest at the event. However, the minister continued to praise CM of the state. He spoke for three minutes. Interestingly, the Uttar Pradesh has been facing power crises since a long time. People of the state hoped that the new BJP government will take measures to improve the situation. However, the government till now failed to meet the expectation of the people as the state is facing frequent power cuts. WATCH: (With inputs from IANS)