For the first time in seven years after becoming the capital of Uttarakhand, Dehradun city on Sunday reeled under an official power cut for three hours amidst worsening power situation in the state.

With overcast sky indicating fresh snow and further cold conditions, power situation has worsened. The state has been forced to buy power at the rate of more than Rs 10 per unit to meet the growing shortfall following failure of the 100 MW supply from gas-based plant of Delhi.

“It is the first official three-hour power cut in Dehradun today in seven years,” said Jagdish Lal, Director Operations, Uttarakhand Power Corporation, here.

The state has a demand of more than 20 million units per day during winters and generation from its own sources drops to 4 million units per day. After drawing nearly 10 million units per day from Central pool and 3.35 million units from banking, the state is facing a shortage of nearly 4 million units per day and has to resort to massive load shedding. The situation has worsened following stoppage of power from Delhi plant.