Can you imagine a power outage for nine long years? That's exactly what this village in Pilibhit district has had to endure after its main transformer developed a snag in 2001. Pilibhit is the parliamentary constituency of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi.

While an engineer in the power corporation says he is aware of the problem, the district administration claims it is not in the know. Despite having all the power supply equipment in place, the 700 residents of Pipria Singipur, some 250 km from Lucknow, have been living without electricity for over nine years.