URUMQI -- A power cut has left 330 households, two shopping malls and more than 40 shops sweltering in the 35-degree heat for the last 11 days in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The power was cut on June 10 in Xinshi District, Urumqi, the region's capital, after construction work on a new underground shopping center damaged the base of a pylon linking electricity transmission lines.

The pylon was in danger of toppling over so the local authorities took the decision to suspend the power supply.

"The meat in my fridge at home all stinks because we have been without power for so long," said 56-year-old Tong Songshan, a resident in the affected area.

The city has experienced high temperatures since June 10 and the mercury climbed to 35 degrees Celsius on Thursday.

Zhang Ling, deputy director of the Urumqi Power Bureau, said the power had to be cut because if the pylon fell over due to construction work or windy and rainy weather, it might cause mass casualties among construction workers and pedestrians.

The bureau and officials from the city's construction and planning departments have reportedly ordered construction work to be suspended but it has continued unabated.

Shi Haotian, board chairman of Xinjiang Tianyida Investment Co., Ltd., the developer of the shopping center, told Xinhua that workers had consolidated the foundations of the pylon and were entitled to continue their work.

But Zhang said the areas around the pylon did not meet the safety requirements for electrical facilities and that the construction must stop before power is restored.

The local authorities only managed to provide two hours of power for residents with electrical generators on Wednesday and Thursday evening.

Temperatures in the city are forecast to hover above 35 degrees Celsius over the weekend.