Four-day nightmare ends as power supply finally restored in Zirakpur

Four days after strong winds brought three towers down around 7.30 pm on June 15 resulting in an electricity outage, power supply was finally completely restored in Zirakpur

Four days after strong winds brought three towers down around 7.30 pm on Wednesday resulting in an electricity outage, power supply was finally completely restored on Sunday evening.

The four-day long crisis ended as power supply was restored in Zirakpur. (HT File)

Power had been cut off at the IT City, Ramgarh Bhudda and Pabhat grids, paralysing supply to the city’s densely-populated areas, following collapse of towers at Badi village on Airport road. The outage continued on Thursday and Friday and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) restored partial power supply — with alternate hour-cuts — in the area on Friday evening.

PSPCL chief engineer Sandeep Gupta had at the time said over 100 electricians were working on repairing the towers since Wednesday evening, but were hindered by constant rain.

The power was finally restored on Sunday evening, but the ordeal has left city residents fuming.

Over the last four days, residents were forced to book hotel rooms after sleepless nights or turn to relatives living in nearby areas during the initial outage. Water supply was also affected over the weekend, and with fuel stations failing to dispense fuel, residents had to travel far for diesel to power the generators.

Shilpa Arora, a resident of VIP Road, said, “Since Sunday morning, the electricity supply was restored completely and finally, we were not facing long power cuts. However, for the past four days, we face a lot of difficulties without fans and water, in the scorching heat.”

Pressing for better preparedness to tackle similar situations in the future, Palvinder Singh, another resident of Zirakpur, said, “For the people of Zirakpur, Sunday evening brought some relief as we did not face untimely power cuts. The officials must ensure that this does not happen again and they should repair all the connections of the city, in advance and monsoons and strong winds can again cause such situation.”