Irked over the unscheduled power cuts, residents, mainly women, staying near the Pahadi temple at Badheimunda in Jharsuguda and its adjoining areas on Tuesday resorted to a road blockade on the NH-49 brining vehicular movement
on the busy road to a standstill for two hours.
A large number of vehicles, including school buses were stranded on either side of the road. Schoolchildren faced the brunt of the strike. Many of them chose to walk home in the grueling humidity.
Shouting slogans against the Electricity Department, the agitators alleged that there have been power cuts for last two months and the Wesco authorities have failed to solve the problem despite repeated their pleas.
When contacted, Wesco authorities said overloading has been one of the main causes of power curtails. The transformers get damaged due to overloading which in turn results in power crises.
However, the irate locals called off their strike after some senior Wesco officials rushed to the spot and assured them to address their problems.