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Fire at PGIMER sub-station in Chandigarh leaves vicinity powerless
As the fire broke out, power supply was switched off, wiping out electricity at Panjab University, PGIMER, Sector 15, Sector 25, Khuda Lahora, Khuda Alisher and Sarangpur
Several areas near the PGIMER campus were left powerless on Tuesday evening after a fire broke out at the 66 kV sub-station at the hospital, with residents left sweating even late into the night.
As the fire broke out at the sub-station around 7 pm, power supply had to be switched off, wiping out electricity at Panjab University in Sectors 14 and 25, other parts of Sector 25, residential campus of PGIMER in Sector 12, Sector 15, Khuda Lahora, Khuda Alisher and Sarangpur.
It took three fire tenders nearly 40 minutes to fully extinguish the fire, following which power was restored to most areas. No one was hurt.
UT chief engineer CB Ojha said, “Power was first restored at PGIMER. We will try to fix the outage entirely by Tuesday night.”
Speaking on the cause of the fire, Ojha said, “A spark at the sub-station led to the fire. It was immediately spotted by the staff and fire tenders were called. We had to switch off the power supply till the fire was brought under control.”
A PGIMER spokesperson said, “A security guard on duty at the Rotary Sarai heard a blast and saw smoke emanating from the 66 kV sub-station. The guard immediately informed the fire control room, following which the fire wing started the fire-fighting operations. Simultaneously, the engineering and hospital administration departments of PGIMER swung into action to ensure back up supply in all critical care areas. This way no patient care services were affected.”
“With joint efforts of a PGIMER team and UT’s engineering and fire departments, the fire was brought under control by 8 pm.Even the normal electricity supply to the institute was restored by 9.15 pm,” the spokesperson added.
In the wake of the power outage, Panjab University authorities allowed the teaching and non-teaching staff residing on the varsity campuses in Sectors 14 and 25 to report to duty at 11 am instead of 9 am on Wednesday, according to registrar Vikram Nayyar.
