Badlapur residents hit by 27-hour power cut

The residents of Badlapur (East) had to face power cuts for more than 27 hours after a transformer was damaged on Thursday.

The residents of Badlapur (East) had to face power cuts for more than 27 hours after a transformer was damaged on Thursday.

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The area was without power on Wednesday because of the cyclone and power supply was again disrupted since Thursday morning. The supply was restored around 3.30pm on Friday.

The residents said the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) should have at least informed them about Wednesday’s power cut.

“Since 12 noon on Thursday, there is no power in our area. We thought it would be restored by evening. But, it continued the next day, causing inconvenience for us,” said Sameer Gharat, 37, a resident of Vivekananda housing society in Badlapur.

“We finally got electricity around 3.30pm on Friday, more than 27 hours after the disruption,” added Gharat.

According to MSEDCL, following the cyclone alert, there were precautionary power cuts in different parts of Badlapur for at least six hours. “The transformer was damaged so there was no power at Vivekananda and some parts of Katrap. We restored electricity by Friday afternoon,” said Anil Kamble, chief public relations officer, MSEDCL, Mumbai.

“In the past two months, there have been long hours of power cuts to change wires and transformers. Most of us are working from home and all work stops because of no electricity. Besides, no prior notice or schedule of power cuts has been provided to residents to help us prepare for it,” said Ganesh Ghorpade, 48, a resident of Vivekananda housing society.

MSEDCL, Badlapur, cited manpower shortage for the long power cut on Thursday and Friday.

“The work was delayed due to lack of manpower amid lockdown. The damage in the transformer was found on Thursday evening. We had to install a new transformer which took time,” said an official in-charge of MSEDCL, Badlapur, adding that one of their workers has tested positive for Covid, which has affected all work.