Lucknow, Jul 25 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh is reeling under a severe power crisis on Tuesday after a major fault in a transmission line in the state's western region, officials said.

"Due to congestion in the transmission line of the western region, the power supply to the northern region has been hit" a senior official told IANS.

He said on Monday afternoon, the line at Mudra Mahendragarh tripped due to high-voltage direct current (HVDC) even as Champa Kurukshetra line of the Power Corporation continues to be down.

This led to acute power shortage in many parts of the state, leading to unscheduled power cuts and outages.

Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Faizabad-Ayodhya and places from where the Kanwar Yatris are passing have been exempt from power cuts.

At other places - district headquarters (six hours) and rural areas (eight to 10 hours) power cuts are taking place.

There is a 2,000 MW shortage in the state.

On Monday, the peak demand of power was 16,500 MW but only 14,500 MW was available.

Electricity board officials have said that until the power supply in the western region is completely restored, power cuts will continue.