Arjuni: For the past month, the region of Arjuni has been reeling under intense heat due to a lack of rainfall, leaving the farming community anxious about their crops. To make matters worse, erratic and uncontrolled power cuts have made daily life unbearable for residents, with electricity going off every 30 minutes.
Despite government claims of a “power surplus,” the reality on the ground paints a different picture. Continuous disruptions — day and night — have sparked frustration and anger among villagers, who feel neglected by the power department.
No Peace by Day, No Rest by Night
Residents of Arjuni and surrounding villages say the extreme humidity has made life miserable. From early morning, power outages begin and continue through the night. The lack of reliable electricity during sweltering conditions has created a crisis for all age groups.
Students, Farmers, Businesses, and Elderly in Distress
Schoolchildren, farmers, shopkeepers, and especially the elderly and ill are bearing the brunt of these outages. In the scorching afternoon heat, fans and water pumps stop working, making it difficult even to remain indoors. Education is being disrupted, businesses are suffering, and rest has become a luxury.
Shopkeepers running mobile repair and welding businesses have also reported heavy losses due to the power disruptions. Farmers, already worried about the dry spell, are further troubled by the inability to irrigate their fields due to power-dependent water pumps failing frequently.
Department Ignores Repeated Complaints
Local residents have lodged multiple complaints with the electricity department, but to no avail. The usual response is that there is a “line fault” or that “maintenance work is ongoing.” Residents question how many times maintenance is required in a month, as this excuse is repeatedly given without any improvement in service.
Just recently, power was cut for the entire day under the pretext of system upgrades, yet the outages continued unabated afterward. Officials have even cited reasons such as “monkeys jumping on wires” to explain the faults — a justification villagers find hard to believe.
Authorities Fail to Provide Answers
When questioned, Junior Engineer Abhishek Lakra stated, “I’ve just returned from leave. I was unaware of the extent of the issue. Now that I’ve been informed, I will look into it.”
However, residents remain skeptical. They say the power department’s ongoing negligence is affecting every aspect of rural life and have called for immediate and concrete action to restore stable electricity in the area.
— Reported by Rupesh Verma, Journalist, Balodabazar
