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55 hours and counting, Zirakpur remains plunged in darkness
Frustration mounts as residents face harrowing experience of life without power and water while PSPCL struggles to restore supply amid rain
With more rain on Friday, the power department continued to struggle to repair the damaged towers at Badi village on Airport Road, leaving residents of Zirakpur powerless for the third consecutive day.
Since strong winds brought three electricity towers down around 7.30 pm on Wednesday, power was switched off at the IT City, Ramgarh Bhudda and Pabhat grids, paralysing supply to the populated Bhabat, Lohgarh, VIP Road, Balaji Enclave, Guru Nanak Nagar, Abheypur, Chhat village and Singhpura areas of Zirakpur.
As rain continued on Thursday and Friday, PSPCL failed to restore supply completely even 55 hours later. While electricity was partially restored by 7 pm on Friday and some areas started getting supply for alternate hours, many others continued to remain plunged in darkness through the night, with PSPCL officials saying complete restoration will be possible only by late Saturday night.
PSPCL chief engineer Sandeep Gupta said, “Over 100 electricians have been working on repairs since Wednesday evening, but constant rain has impeded progress. We were able to partially restore electricity in 80% of the affected areas by 7.30 pm on Friday and are working on complete restoration in all areas by Saturday night. Meanwhile, electricity will be provided for alternate hours.”
Residents turn to generators, hotels, water bottles
Meanwhile, after struggling without power and water for the third straight day, residents were forced to rent diesel generators, while many booked hotel rooms after two sleepless nights.
With petrol pumps unable to dispense fuel amid the power outage, residents also had to travel to Chandigarh or Panchkula to buy fuel for vehicles and generators.
Ricky Singh, a resident of Zirakpur, said, “My parents are elderly and had been suffering tremendously in the absence of power and water. We don’t have an inverter at home, so after waiting for electricity supply for a day, I was forced to rent a generator for two days. Besides, we are relying on water bottles from the market to meet our drinking water requirement.”
“With no power on two consecutive mornings, my mobile phone and laptops ran out of battery, so I was unable to work from home. Initially, I managed to charge my phone in my car, but it was not enough. Eventually, I was left with no other option than to book a hotel to complete my official tasks and have a restful night,” said Abhishek Sharma, who works for an IT company and lives in a rented house in Zirakpur.
Even Naresh Jandial, a marketing manager at a pharma company, had move to a hotel in Chandigarh’s Sector 35 with his family to allow his son to work remotely.
Several other residents turned to their relatives and friends in Mohali, Chandigarh and Panchkula.
Hardik Jindal, a resident of Defence Enclave, Lohgarh Road, said, “We can somehow bear this situation, but my three-year-old daughter cannot. So, we chose to temporarily move to our relative’s house.”
As his father suffering from hypertension and diabetes, Venya Chauhan, who lives in Green Enclave, also decided to shift to a relative’s house in Mohali to avoid him further trouble.
(With inputs from Muskan Sharma)
