Grid burst leaves Patnaites fuming and sweating

PATNA: Thousands of residents living in New Jakkanpur locality adjacent to a power grid station have been living under the constant fear of death and devastation, thanks to the apathy of Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB). "Our several complaints have gone unnoticed," fumed one resident on Monday after the locals were yet again jolted by a deafening sound of power transformers.
Around noon, two transformers of the Jakkanpur grid station suddenly burst, leading to acute power crisis in the city."The deafening sound reminded us of a war of sorts on the Line of Control," said Manoj Prasad, a resident of the area and student at local A N College.
Many others said such incidents in the grid have become a routine affair. As the transformers burst, hundreds of residents came out of their houses to witness the thick layer of smoke billowing out of the grid station.
"Now we will have yet another spell of long power cut," Rajiv Ranjan, a student of College of Commerce, said angrily. Indeed, following the snag, lakhs of residents of Jakkanpur, Purandharpur, Yarpur, Fraser Road, Nehru Nagar, Anandpuri and New Pataliputra Colony had to go without power since 1 pm. Power supply was not restored in many areas till late evening.
Against the capacity of supplying 70 MW of power, the Jakkanpur grid could supply only 50 MW of power to different parts of the city.
BSEB spokesman Arjun Singh admitted that the board had to resort to load- shedding due to the snag.