LUCKNOW, May 23 -- Around 10pm every night, residents of Vasudev Nagar Colony in Lucknow's Chinhat area begin preparing for what they now call the "daily blackout". Coolers fall silent. Fans slow down and stop. Inverters begin beeping. Children step out onto terraces to escape the heat trapped inside homes, while elderly residents sit outside in dimly lit lanes waiting for electricity supply to resume. For the past several days, this has become the 'night routine' across large parts of the state capital, which struggles through a worsening power crisis. From Chinhat and Kamta to Shivpuri, Jankipuram and Faizullaganj, residents say long power cuts, repeated tripping and severe voltage fluctuations have pushed normal life into chaos. In several localities, anger has spilled onto the streets, with protests and road blockades erupting against what residents describe as a "collapsing electricity supply system and an unresponsive administration". "People are unable to sleep at night. Children are crying because of the heat and elderly people are falling sick," said Ayush Verma, a resident of Vasudev Nagar Colony under the Kamta sub-station area. "Every night electricity supply disappears around 10pm. We keep calling the power house, but nobody answers the phone. On Thursday, residents gathered outside the power house in protest. If things continue like this, the agitation will intensify," he lamented. "Coolers do not work properly, motors fail and voltage keeps fluctuating. People are paying full electricity bills but are not getting proper supply,"said Karamjeet Pathak, a resident of Kalyani Vihar. Ved Prakash, another resident of Vasudev Nagar, pointed towards solar panels installed on rooftops across the colony. "Most houses here already have solar systems. Still, officials continue blaming high demand. The truth is that the infrastructure is unable to handle the pressure," he alleged. Inside the Kamta sub-station, however, officials painted a picture of an overburdened system struggling to keep up with soaring consumption. "There are more than 8,000 electricity connections under this sub-station. Demand has risen sharply due to the heat. Faults are being attended continuously, but the network is under heavy stress," said Santosh, the sub-divisional officer (SDO). In areas under the Shivpuri power house on Deva Road, residents said erratic supply and low voltage have become a daily struggle. At Him Estate Colony near Amrai Gaon, Arvind Tiwari said he eventually installed a solar system at his home after repeated failures of electricity supply. AK Singh, SDO of Shivpuri sub-station, acknowledged the mounting crisis. He said: "We receive nearly 100 to 150 complaints daily. Around 12 linemen work in every shift to manage supply across nearly 60,000 to 70,000 consumers." In Jankipuram, frustration boiled over late Thursday night when residents blocked a road near Bhuiyan Devi Temple, accusing the department of ignoring repeated complaints. The blockade continued for nearly two hours before officials and police intervened. Residents alleged that outages and low voltage continued unabated for days. Officials later said nearly 500 metres of aerial bundled cable (ABC) was being laid in the area to strengthen the network, but the work had slowed because of shortage of manpower. Santosh Vishwakarma, SDO at the New Campus sub-station, reached the spot and tried to pacify the crowd before police assistance was sought to restore normalcy. In Faizullaganj's Muslim Nagar area, residents said even repair work was failing to provide lasting relief. A resident, Mohd Ali, recalled how a damaged wire in his locality burnt again within minutes of being repaired. "The lineman had barely left when sparks started again from the pole. This has become routine here," he lamented....