Rainfall leads to power cuts & fluctuations

Pune: Heavy rainfall on Wednesday morning led to prolonged power outage lasting nearly four to five hours in Kondhwa, while parts of the city faced intermittent electricity interruptions due to the Tuesday showers.The result was disrupted daily routines and work schedules.Resident of Kondhwa’s Konark Pooram Housing Society Fiza Shaikh said power was disconnected before 7am and restored only around 10.30am on Wednesday. “The outage affected our morning routine. I had to take a half-day leave from work since there was no electricity for several hours,” she said.Shireen Shaikh, an IT professional living in Kondhwa, said she was unable to begin work on time as the power cut also disrupted internet services. “My work shift starts at 8am, but there was no power. I could not log in to the system. Repeated calls to local MSEDCL officials went unanswered and residents were left in the dark about when the supply would be restored,” she said.Shaikh said power disruptions during monsoons are a recurrent problem in the locality. “We faced similar issues last year too. Outage is common during rains. The authorities should have adequate manpower and systems in place to ensure faster restoration.”Smita Kadam, a resident of Charoli’s Tanish Orchid society which has close to 2,500 flats, said they faced one to hours of power cuts at least five to six times cuts in the last 24 hours.

“The entire society is facing the issue. Also, there is significant voltage fluctuation after the electricity comes back, damaging appliances of several home owners,” Kadam added.Jai Jawannagar, Lakshminagar and Shri Sambhaji Maharaj Chowk localities of Yerawada faced three to four hours of power cut because a cable broke on Wednesday, area resident Suraj Patidar said.Baner, Balewadi and Pashan, which faced severe power cuts during summer, were mostly left untouched by outages during the rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Baner resident Prakash Alhat said there was a minor cut for 45 minutes to an hour, but nothing major. Similarly, there were no big power cuts in Vimannagar and Hadapsar too, residents said.