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Over 3 lakh consumers in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad face 12-hour power outage
Not only could those facing the outage not sleep the night of Thursday due to the extreme heat, water supply and other essential services too were disrupted due to it
More than three lakh consumers in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad faced a 12-hour power outage which began late evening Thursday and continued into the next morning when power was finally restored. Not only could those facing the outage not sleep the night of Thursday due to the extreme heat, water supply and other essential services too were disrupted due to it.
Dipti Navale, a resident of Wagholi, recalled, “It was a horrible experience on Thursday night. There was a water cut on Thursday and late evening, we faced a power cut as well. We thought the power would resume after some time. But my husband received a message on WhatsApp saying it would be restored at 10.30 pm. The power was restored only at 2.30 am. We could not sleep at all.”
Aabhijit Adsul, a resident of Kharadi, said, “There was no light or water Thursday night. Due to the power outage, the air-conditioner could not function. We opened all the doors and windows but there was no relief. We spent time outside till 12 am and then returned home. The power had still not been restored. The phones were also switched off. “
Samarth Lavande, a resident of Wadgaonsheri, said, “It was an uneasy night. There was no power in our area from 7.30 pm to 1.30 am. It came in between but snapped after a few minutes. Our phones were discharged. It was not easy to sleep without a fan. Nothing was working. We tried to pass time by watching movies on the phone but the phone too went dead later.”
Pratibha Jadhav, a resident of Mundhwa, said, “We had just finished our dinner. The power snapped at 8.30 pm and wasn’t restored before early morning Friday. This was the first time that there was no power for over 10 hours. In cities like Pune, this is very rare. They should have looked into the technical problems.”
Uddhav Galande, a resident of Ramwadi, said, “Power was restored at 2 am. It was a horrible experience. We had a candle-lit dinner and stepped outside as there was no way one could sleep inside the house in all that heat. After 2 am, I returned and went to sleep. My family too was outside and waiting for the power to be restored.”
Vasim Sayyad, a resident of Kharadi, said, “Candles were sold out in all the nearby shops. We used our mobile phone torch at home. It was an unexpected situation.”
Due to technical failure, the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) substation had to be shut down, making load management impossible. As a result, electricity load had to be regulated for one hour in areas such as Kothrud, SNDT, Aundh, Baner, Shivajinagar, Balewadi, Bavdhan, Model Colony and Pashan from 10 pm on Thursday to 3 am on Friday. Kharadi, Wadgaonsheri, Vimannagar, Yerawada, Dhanori and the surrounding areas were affected. The interruption also impacted 5,000 industrial customers in Chakan MIDC.
Rajendra Pawar, chief engineer of the Pune Circle of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), said, “The failure led to an interruption in the power supply of the MSETCL’s substations including 400 KV Chakan, 220 KV Chinchwad, 220 KV Urse, 220 KV Chakan, 132 KV Chakan, and 132 KV Kharadi. A total of 396 MW of electricity was affected, impacting the electricity supply of nearly 3.50 lakh consumers in Pune and the surrounding areas, as well as 5,000 industrial customers in Chakan MIDC. Adani Power transmission lines faced a problem. They did not have the technical persons to restore it. The MSEDCL and MSETCL technical staff helped to repair the fault. We received a lot of phone calls from consumers throughout the night.”
Rajendra Gaikawad, chief engineer of MSETCL, said, “More than 45 employees were working hard to restore power supply on Thursday night. Load management measures were implemented to handle the increased demand for electricity during the summer. Transmission of 396 MW was stopped due to technical failure. It occurred in the Adani power transmission line. Power supply was gradually restored throughout the night, and by 8.55 am, all the affected customers had their electricity restored.”
Prasana Joshi, executive engineer of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) water supply department, said, “There was no major effect on the city’s water supply. Only some parts of Pashan and Shivajinagar were partially affected. However, water supply was restored late evening Friday.”
