Madurai: For schoolchildren in Pannaikudi near Alanganallur, the struggle to concentrate in classrooms begins the previous night. Power cuts lasting four to six hours disrupt their sleep, leaving them exhausted the next morning and struggling to keep pace with lessons. Frustrated by recurring outages, around 50 students carrying textbooks joined more than 150 residents in blocking the Alanganallur–Mattuthavani Road, bringing traffic to a standstill.“The power cuts usually happen at night. We usually don’t have power from 2am to 6am. This disrupts our sleep, and when power goes off in the evening or there is low voltage, it disturbs our study schedules too,” said Sundar, a student. He said voltage fluctuations also caused headaches, sometimes forcing him to miss school.While prolonged overnight outages have intensified over the past week, residents said they had been facing frequent power disruptions for three months. Repeated complaints to electricity department officials failed to bring relief, prompting the road blockade.For agricultural and daily-wage workers, returning home after a day’s labour has offered little respite. Residents said erratic power supply made household chores difficult, while voltage fluctuations damaged electrical appliances.“The intense heat over the summer in the past few months has intensified the struggle and frustration caused by the power cuts,” said Charan, a farmer from Alanganallur.The problem extends beyond Pannaikudi. On Friday, nearly two dozen villages around Alanganallur and Vadipatti experienced a power outage lasting almost 18 hours. Villagers demanded regular inspections of power lines and quicker restoration of supply when faults occur.Police intervened during the blockade to pacify protesters, who sought a permanent solution rather than temporary restoration.Responding to Saturday’s disruption, Tangedco said a fuse at the Pannaikudi distribution transformer blew at 6pm. Staff replaced it at 6.45pm, but it blew again, prompting an inspection. Officials found that strong winds had caused low-tension power lines to become entangled. Repairs were carried out and the fuse replaced, restoring power supply by 8pm.