66KV power line collapse triggers 16-km traffic snarl on NH-48 near Gurugram

Traffic remained disrupted for nearly three hours as diversions were imposed. Power supply continued through alternative sources, officials said.

The sudden collapse of a 66kV electricity transmission line located along the Delhi-Jaipur highway (NH48) at Narsinghpur on Saturday afternoon led to a 16-kilometre-long backlog of vehicles on both carriageways of the expressway, from the Kherki Daula toll plaza to Star Mall, near Sector 15. Police officers said that immediately after the collapse at around 3.30pm, they issued advisories, set up diversions and the traffic normalised by around 6pm.

At least five ambulances were caught in the traffic jam. Authorities diverted vehicles via KMP Expressway, Sohna Road and SPR. (HT)

Officials with the power department said that as soon as the transmission line collapsed, the power supply automatically tripped, thereby avoiding any untoward incident or harm to commuters due to a high-voltage electric field.

Power company Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL) said that the transmission line ran across the expressway, connecting the 220kV substation in Badshahpur with the 66kV substation in Harsaru.

“One of the three conductors holding the transmission line at a tower near the expressway broke, which caused the wire to collapse. The situation completely disrupted the traffic movement on the expressway. Soon after the trip, teams were mobilised to find out the fault and get it fixed but by that time, we received an alert about the transmission line coming down on the expressway,” said an HVPNL official.

“The conductor may have broken off due to overloading and temperature change. The wires were cut and removed clearing the expressway again for traffic movement. Repairs will be carried out to reinstall the line at night time to restart the circuit connecting both the substations,” the official said.

Officials said the power supply tripped automatically, preventing any untoward incident after the transmission line fell on the expressway. (HT)

Commuters stranded

Thousands of commuters were stranded on the road for around three hours, and took to social media to post videos and photos about the traffic holdup.

Arun Singh, one of the commuters travelling towards Manesar, said he was stuck in the traffic a kilometre before the spot. “I remained stuck in the blockade for more than an hour as there was no way even to take a U-turn or slide on to the service lane to return,” he said.

Besides the commuters, at least five ambulances were stuck in traffic, according to information shared by commuters.

An ambulance driver, who did not wish to be named, said he was going to pick up a patient but remained trapped in traffic for almost two hours. “Within couple of minutes of getting trapped in the blockade, I had alerted the family about my situation and had asked them to make alternate arrangements,” he said.

Soon after the incident, emergency response vehicles, traffic police teams and civil defence teams rushed to the spot of the line collapse and barricaded the stretch by placing stacks of tyres where the wires had fallen across the expressway, blocking both the carriageways and the service lanes. At least three separate diversions, one via Kundli-Manesar Palwal Expressway, another 19-kilometre-long diversion via the Sohna Road and Southern Peripheral Road was set up for vehicles to bypass the affected stretch of the NH48.

HVPNL officials said that power supply continued to the Harsaru substation from alternative sources.

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic headquarters) Satyapal Yadav said, “The blockade resulted in traffic jams on several connecting roads of the city too on which additional traffic police personnel were deployed for regulating vehicular movement.”

Yadav said that traffic on both the carriageways of the NH48 was diverted for at least two hours between Panchgaon at the Govi exit near Kherki Daula and Rajiv Chowk, with vehicles rerouted from Vatika Chowk. “More personnel were deployed on the alternate routes too to manage the traffic flow,” Yadav said.

The conductor breakage disrupted power supply to 10 feeders connected to the 66kV substation. Supply to the New Sector-35 and New Shani Dev industrial feeders was restored by shifting the load to another substation. However, power to six independent and two industrial feeders remained affected due to maintenance work on the Badshahpur circuit. The SPR Road (Urban), Begampur Khatola (Urban), Suzuki (Independent) and Lenskart (Independent) feeders also remained disrupted, affecting industrial and urban areas.

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