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In dark for 22 hours: Fed up of power cuts, Diva locals to protest today
The Diva-Shil area has no electricity for more than 22 hours and residents will stage a protest against the private agency on Saturday.
The Diva-Shil area has no electricity for more than 22 hours and residents will stage a protest against the private agency on Saturday.
Since Thursday, the residents have been facing issues as electricity supply has been handed over to a private agency by MSEDCL (Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited).
“The feeder of the electricity power supply to this area is at Sabegaon, in Diva, near Thane. Due to technical glitches in the underground cables, power has been affected for hours. The officials working at the site said it took time to detect the fault in the cables, leading to power cut for over 22 hours. However, partial power supply was restored on Friday afternoon,” said a senior official from MSEDCL, Mumbai.
Residents of Diva said the power cut has affected students who are appearing for SSC and HSC Board examinations.
“The power cut has affected the studies of students. No prior announcement or notice was given to us about the long power cut,” said Baban Mhatre, 39, a local from Diva.
Residents said tripping of power is regular in Diva-Shil area. “A few days ago, the private agency took over power supply. Since then, there was tripping of power in our area. There is no power since 7pm on Thursday,” said Deepnarayan Mishra, 49, a resident of Diva.
According to the MSEDCL official, the company handed over electricity supply franchise to the private agency since March 1, 2020, in Diva, which has a population of around 5 lakh. The same agency holds the franchise of Bhiwandi since 2007.
“As the agency recently took over Diva, technicians took time to detect the fault,” said the MSEDCL official.
Residents, who had been against the move to hand over power supply to private agency, said they are going to hold protest against them. “We will protest at Avdhut Hall in Diva (East) on Saturday (March 7), against the private agency,” said Mishra.
