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Kavade Vasti plunged into darkness for two days due to major cable fault of MSEDCL
Recently, over 400 residents of Kavade Vasti, Wagholi, endured a power outage for nearly two days, which plunged their houses into darkness
PUNE
Recently, over 400 residents of Kavade Vasti, Wagholi, endured a power outage for nearly two days, which plunged their houses into darkness, disrupted daily routines and caused them untold distress. The disruption was attributed to a major cable fault of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) and no effort was spared in rectifying the cable fault and restoring the power supply. However, the incident serves as a sombre reminder of the need for improved power infrastructure and maintenance facilities.
Ramdas Dabhade, former Sarpanch of Wagholi, said, “Due to major faults, there was no power in Kavade Vasti. However, the MSEDCL took major efforts to restore the fault. The power supply was disturbed in two slots. First from Saturday morning to evening and then late Saturday evening to Sunday morning. It was restored on Sunday morning.”
Chetan Kanade, a resident of Kavade Vasti, said, “We were expecting to restore the power within a few hours. But it was not done because the fault was major and we were present where the MSEDCL officials were carrying out repair work. We managed drinking water by purchasing jars. Vasti is located near the Pune to Ahmednagar Road and there are 70 to 80 households. It is the first time we faced such a long power failure. In normal circumstances, power would have been restored within one to two hours.”
Nishikant Raut, public relations officer of MSEDCL, said, “MSEDCL got a call on Friday night at 3.00 am. Our officials rushed to the spot. The machines detected cable faults under the cement-concrete road at two different locations. Officials called a JCB breaker machine on Saturday morning to excavate a 14 metres’ long patch five feet deep and removed pieces of damaged underground cables. Power supply resumed at 7.30 pm on Sunday.”
Raut said, “The power supply again disconnected at 10 pm on Sunday due to failure of the 200-Kilowatt (KV) transformer. MSEDCL brought a new transformer at 12.00 pm. After installation, testing and charging of the new transformer, officials restored power supply at 7.00 am on Monday. All MSEDCL officials and employees were present throughout the process. As there was no alternate arrangement to shift load to another transformer, residents faced power problems.”
