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Uprooted trees, rain cause power outages in Ludhiana
While rain and thunderstorm brought respite from the scorching heat, residents had to contend with long power outages across the district on Monday.
While rain and thunderstorm brought respite from the scorching heat, residents had to contend with long power outages across the district on Monday.
With the high-velocity winds uprooting trees and branches power cuts, extending up to 12 hours were, witnessed in Model Town, BRS Nagar, Anand Nagar, Dugri, Giaspura, Sarabha Nagar, Civil Lines, Jalandhar Bypass, Industrial Area, Basant Avenue, Dholewal, Chandigarh Road, and Gill Road among other areas.
Power officials say three 11KV electricity poles were damaged disrupting power supply across the city. Patrol teams – comprising Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSEB) chief engineer Jasvir Singh, deputy chief engineer (Ludhiana West) Raman Vashisht, sub-divisional officers and executive engineers – remained on their toes the entire day as the complaint lines kept buzzing.
On the reason for the power outages, Vashisht said, “Three electricity poles and some parts of the power infrastructure were damaged due to heavy rainfall and gusty winds. The sudden change in temperature after days of scorching heat also caused faults in the power lines at some places. Power supply in densely populated areas was resumed after borrowing power from neighbouring feeders.”
“We have been working to restore power since midnight, and in some places, power was immediately restored after it stopped raining. It will take some time to restore the electricity poles. Supply will soon be restored across Ludhiana,” he said.
In the meantime, residents remained a harried lot.
Ashima Sharma of BRS Nagar, E- Block, said, ‘There was no electricity in my house since 1 am. Electricity was restored around 9:45am, but the water motor could not be operated.”
Another resident, Sheffali Sharma of Ananad Nagar was late for work as there was neither water nor electricity at her house in the morning.
The executive engineer, BRS Nagar, said around 20 electricity lines were shut down in the area after heavy branches fell on the power lines. “Repair work was immediately started, and power supply was restored.”
Business owners also found themselves in a fix due to the power cut. Divanshu, a gym owner in Model Town Extension, said despite registering a complaint with the PSPCL officials, he did not get any response. “The battery of the inverter at the gym also drained out, but nobody turned up to resolve the issue, which inconvenienced clients. Finally, power supply was resumed at 5pm.”
A PSPCL staffer said a four-wheeler was also damaged in Haibowal after a branch fell on the vehicle.
