In CM’s hometown, hours-long outages hit seniors, children

Nagpur: Hours-long power cuts are pushing residents in CM and energy minister Devendra Fadnavis's hometown to the brink, with senior citizens and children being worst affected as outages intensify amid soaring summer demand and temperatures crossing 44°C.From working-class neighbourhoods to prime localities, large parts of the city are witnessing prolonged and repeated disruptions. Citizens blame the crisis on a deeper problem within Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), whose distribution network is struggling to cope with the unprecedented load triggered by the ongoing heatwave.While MSEDCL has attributed the outages to "technical issues" in isolated pockets, residents across Nagpur paint a far grimmer picture — one of routine, unannounced cuts and a system failing under pressure.Joy Mukherjee, a resident of Shiv Nagar in Zingabai Takli, said, "On one hand, the MSEDCL is demanding that we pay an additional deposit and, on the other hand, it is failing to provide basic electricity. My grandmother is suffering from heart and kidney issues; she cannot even sit without electricity for even 10 minutes but is forced to suffer for hours because of MSEDCL's failure," he said.Mukherjee added, "It feels like living in an oven," recounting another outage on Monday afternoon between 2pm and 4.30pm, after a night-long blackout from 11pm to 4.30am.The situation is no better in Godhani. Shrikant Rangari from Suman Nagari alleged that power supply has become wildly erratic. "The worst was at night — there was no power for hours between 11pm and 2am. In this heat, it becomes impossible to even sit inside the house," he said.Rangari said outages on Sunday began early, with electricity snapping "four to five times in the morning" and continued through the afternoon. "Unannounced shutdowns have become routine," he said, calling it a "complete breakdown of planning and accountability".MSEDCL officials admitted to feeder-related faults in Godhani and cited technical issues behind prolonged outages in Mahalaxmi Nagar in Manewada. However, complaints are not limited to these pockets. Residents from Civil Lines, Ramdaspeth, Besa, Narendra Nagar, Trimurti Nagar and other areas have also reported frequent disruptions.With temperatures remaining high and demand continuing to surge, the repeated outages have exposed the fragility of the city's power distribution system and raised concerns over what would happen in peak summer in May. For thousands of residents battling the heat, the question now is not just about supply — but about accountability.