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600-flat Pune hsg society spends 22 hrs without power; shells out Rs35,000 on diesel generators
600 flats from 11 buildings at Pune residential society Margosa Heights had to stay without power for almost 22 hours due to “slow action” from MSEDCL
As many as 600 flats from 11 buildings at a posh residential society Margosa Heights in Mohammadwadi area of Kondhwa had to stay without power for almost 22 hours, mainly due to “slow action” from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
The residents faced power cut between 11 pm on Monday and 9pm Tuesday after an underground power supply cable developed a technical snag forcing citizens to undergo severe hardships affecting school going children, housewives, office goers, traders, elderly and the patients.
Residents alleged that MSEDCL had been “lax about the entire issue” and carried out work at a snail’s pace without thinking about the inconvenience caused.
To run essential services during power cuts, the society spent Rs35,000 on diesel during the crisis period. The incident has once again brought to light the inefficiency and lack of alacrity on the part of the MSEDCL authorities when it comes to timely delivery of services including repairs to the citizens.
Citing slow response from MSEDCL staff, society citizens funded an earth moving machine to assist authorities in carrying out the repair work.
Margosa Heights Association Secretary Vinod Salian said, “The society residents had to suffer due to the lax and lackadaisical attitude of the MSEDCL authorities. We procured Rs35,000 worth of diesel to make up for the loss. The society had to get a JCB to assist the MSEDCL authorities in carrying out the repair work otherwise it would have taken much more time. The society residents had to face a very tough time due to inept handling of the cable repair work and we had to spend from our pockets to make up for the power failure.”
MSEDCL PRO office when contacted for the version said that they will look into the issue.
MSEDCL official requesting anonymity stated, “There was a feeder breakdown, in which electric supply to the entire Mohammadwadi area broke down at 10.30 pm and supply was restored at 1.30 pm. We did not receive any complaint from Margosa Heights during the night. They complained to us at 7 am the next day and found that there was an underground cable fault. The cable was seven feet deep and the private agency assigned for the task completed the work and active assistance was provided to us by the society members. We had not demanded JCB from the society nor charges for the same. The power supply was restored by 9 pm on Tuesday night. There were a number of challenges due to the difficult nature of the work and the depth of the cable.”
Margosa Apartment has 925 flats with over 50 shops spread across 20 buildings. However, power was disrupted in more than half of them.
Lav Chaurasia, one of committee member, said cable fault should have been repaired within three hours as it is the standard time to rectify the issue. “To find out about the issue, it took about twelve hours. It is because of them that we had to face power cut for 24 hours. My four-year-old son needs hot milk and it becomes difficult to take care of our families. There was heavy rain and the atmosphere was cold and senior citizens required hot food, water and all basic things. We demand that such issues must be taken on a priority so that citizens are not forced into hardships.”
The society members said they are contemplating approaching the government seeking refund of the money they spent on diesel, alleging that the fault lay with MSEDCL authorities.
Association chairman Kaustubh Pansare said, “Water is a daily necessity and for keeping lift operations, power is a must and hence we had to buy diesel from the market to back up these operations. The MSEDCL did not look into the tickets raised and conducted the repair work at the earliest. They took 12 hours to find out the problem and later it took another twelve hours for repairs. When consumers fail to pay the bill on time strict action is taken, but now the MSEDCL is in dock and it must work with that integrity. As the rules are applicable to consumers the same same should e applied for the MSEDCL authorities.”
