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Gusty winds, rain lead to power outages across Ludhiana
In the West division, power supply was disrupted in several Ludhiana areas, including Giaspura, Bahadur Ke Road, and Dana Mandi
Several areas plunged into darkness after strong winds and a brief spell of rain triggered power outages across the city on Thursday. The disruption was felt acutely, with complaints to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) helpline surging from 5,038 on Wednesday midnight to a staggering 12,321 by Thursday noon.
According to PSPCL officials, the power failure was caused by technical glitches in the feeders due to the combination of strong winds and rain drizzle. The gusty winds caused tree branches and loose wires to come in contact with power lines, leading to short circuits. Meanwhile, light rain resulted moisture to seep into insulators and electrical components, causing sparking and tripping of the supply, officials said.
“Around 15 feeders in the Janta Nagar division were disrupted at around 12 pm on Wednesday due to these weather-related issues, but electricity was restored by 9 am on Thursday,” said Nitish Kumar, an official from the division.
Similarly, in the West division, power supply was disrupted in several areas, including Giaspura, Bahadur Ke Road, and Dana Mandi. The situation was further aggravated by damaged poles and snapped electric wires in certain areas, which prolonged restoration efforts, officials added.
Meanwhile, residents expressed frustration over outages, as many localities experienced blackouts lasting several hours. Some complained about the lack of a prompt response from PSPCL despite repeated calls to the helpline.
Downplaying these concerns, a senior official from the distribution wing stated, “We had resolved around 7,112 complaints by the afternoon.”
Responding to the outages, Jagdev Singh Hans, chief engineer of the Central Zone, noted, ”Most incidents were reported during the midnight hours. Technical teams had been promptly deployed across the affected grids to address the glitches, ensuring that by morning, power was fully restored in the impacted areas”
