‘Can’t even charge my phone’

I live in a one-bedroom apartment in Saket. It is near the Metro station and the area is a crowded one. Thus, a lot of electricity is being consumed there. Generally, when I come home from work at night and there is a power cut, it is really annoying. It is a recurring problem in the building ever since I shifted here a few months ago.

Initially the power cuts were for a smaller period of time — mostly for 15 minutes every day. Recently, the rate has increased. For two or three hours, that too twice or thrice a day, we are having power cuts. When I am in office, it is still bearable. But when I am home during the weekends, I have to face a lot of problems due to these frequent power cuts.

There have been days when the power would go at around 2 or 3 am. After an exhausting day at work, when you are finally trying to get some sleep, it is natural to get irritated when there’s a power cut. Also, since I do not own an A/C or air cooler, I have to depend only on the fan during summer.

Moreover, the wi-fi stops working when there’s a power cut and that hampers my work. Charging is another issue. After a hectic day, sometimes I need to charge my phone and laptop. One night, power went out in the entire area after an A/C in a room in the top floor of our building caught fire. It was 12.30 am. So, people from the Power department came and fixed the circuit. There was fire on the electricity post as well. The residents of our entire building had to evacuate.

It is difficult to even function when you come home after a tiring day at work and the power goes off. You cannot relax or even take a bath. Also, I do not have a gas oven. I depend upon an induction heater to cook food. So, there have been times when I could not even make my meal before leaving for office due to these erratic power cuts in our area.

— As told to Shruti Das