36 hours and counting: Mass outage continues in Gurugram; panel to probe

Over 10,000 families in Gurugram face a 36-hour power outage after a substation fire, raising concerns over backup costs and infrastructure safety.

For 36 hours at least 10,000 families in 22 Gurugram housing societies have been under a power blackout. The outage occurred due to a fire in a grid substation at 8.40am on Sunday, affecting sectors 99, 102, 103, 107, 108 and 109 along the Dwarka Expressway. On Monday night officials said that supply might be restored by early Tuesday morning, and a committee will be formed to conduct a detailed inquiry into the fire. In the meantime, the affected housing societies have been using backup diesel generator sets.

The grid station in Sector 107 after the fire. (HT Photo)

Residents said that the continuous extended use of diesel generator sets is not only exorbitantly expensive but also highly polluting. Residents also pointed to the frequent power cuts in the new sectors along the Dwarka Expressway. Officials said that the fire occurred at the high-capacity substation that was especially constructed to cater to the needs of the new sectors, housing societies and townships along the Dwarka Expressway.

“We expect that the supply will be restored by Monday midnight or early Tuesday morning according to the communication from Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPN) officials. However, nothing concrete could be said at present until they give us a confirmation, said Manoj Kumar, executive engineer (City division) Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (DHBVN).

HVPN manages the power transmission and substations across Haryana while DHBVN draws power from these substations to supply them to consumers.

The fire occurred in the high-capacity 220kV substation in Sector 107, and destroyed a set of 220/33kV transmission lines and the entire control panel, resulting in the power outage. HVPN officials said that the overall estimated loss due to the fire, damaged equipment and disruption of power supply due to the incident is at least ₹10-11 crore.

Officials said that the high-level committee, which will be headed by a senior engineer, will determine the cause of the fire.

A senior HVPN official said that the inquiry report will make it clear if any error, sudden power surge or substandard equipment resulted in such severe damage that caused the large-scale power outage.

“If felt necessary, the damaged equipment or part of the transmission cable may be sent for testing to ascertain its quality. The contractor will be taken to task if such a matter comes to light. Nothing could be said at present as a detailed inquiry will be carried out in every aspect,” the officer said, adding that this is the first time that an entire control panel of a substation has been damaged by fire.

Kumar said that DHBVN has made alternate technical arrangements so that power supply to the seven affected feeders will be started as soon as the substation charges up.

He said that they were also in continuous touch with resident welfare associations and authorities of most housing societies to keep them updated about the situation. “We are trying our best to keep them informed,” he said.

He added that among the affected areas are also two affordable housing societies which don’t have a facility for backup power supply.“While other housing societies are getting power supply from backup facilities, the affordable housing societies don’t have that option. Even the inverter of most families there had drained out by Sunday evening. But we have somehow managed to partially supply power via alternate means to those two,” Kumar said.

Brigadier Anil Hooda (retired), resident representative committee of Sobha City in Sector 108, said the extended use of diesel generator sets is costly financially and environmentally as it spreads pollution. “This severe outage will end up causing the residents to pay exorbitant energy bills as charges for power supply from genset are higher. The incident raises questions about the kind of training or maintenance HVPN is carrying out and about the quality of equipment used,” he said.

Sikha Parihar, a resident of Adani Oyster Greens in Sector 102, said it is surprising that power department officials didn’t have any large-scale facility for dousing a fire at an electricity substation. “What are their safety standards? We the people ultimately suffer due to the poor power supply infrastructure,” she said.

“Frequent power cuts have become a norm here. Whenever the grid fails, we are forced to rely on diesel generators, which is not only expensive but also harmful to the environment. The lack of proper maintenance and supervision by DHBVN is evident. A fire at a grid station can be extremely hazardous, and it is shocking that such an incident was not prevented,” she had earlier said.

On Sunday, Captain Sunil Pratap Singh, resident, Sobha City, had said, “Power failures are frequent in the new sectors. Whenever grid supply is unavailable, condominiums are forced to rely on diesel generators, which are not only expensive but also highly polluting.”

Akshay Gupta, general secretary of Suncity Avenue 102 RWA, said a dedicated fire station on the Dwarka Expressway was needed to handle such emergencies. “Residents have been demanding a fire station for years yet no action has been taken. Had there been a local fire station, response time could have been reduced, potentially preventing the extensive damage to the grid,” he added.