PMC’s digging snaps power supply in Hadapsar society for 24 hours

Pune: Digging for laying of a drainage line by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in Magarpatta has led to 24-hour power cut in a neighbouring society. Electricity supply to 128 homes in La Salette society was disrupted at 3pm on Thursday and was not fully restored till Friday evening.“The supply was snapped due to digging work being carried out by PMC for laying drainage pipe. It led to damage to the electricity cable,” said Mahesh Gowari, assistant engineer, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL).MSEDCL at 3am on Friday managed to repair the damaged cable to restore electricity supply but it failed again because of continuous digging. Pramod Lakdhake, the contractor working for PMC, said the cable running through the area was not deep enough and it was also not running through the allocated area in some places.Affected residents said the round-the-clock construction activity is the reason why there are multiple power disruptions. “We spent close to Rs9,000 for diesel generators since the power cut. The blame game between MSEDCL and PMC has started but it is the citizens who have to suffer. We have now added power cuts to the list of problems we face in addition to pollution and traffic issues. There is no respite in spite of MSEDCL staff working as we expect this will continue till the digging is not finished,” Namrata Rathod, a resident, said.Santosh Paudwal, another resident at the society, said they have verbally complained to the MSEDCL and PMC regarding the problem. The society has been facing regular power cuts since past six months. This time, the problem was too severe as children and senior citizens found it difficult to cope with the 24-hour electricity outage. He added that even those working from home are forced to go to nearby cafes to work as they are unable to charge their phones and laptops.“We have a two-year-old baby at our place. No one could sleep through the night. Our patience is being tested with such long power cuts,” Komal Taldar, a resident in La Selette, said. Another resident added that his father is bedridden as he had undergone critical surgery recently. Being dependent on medical assistance, it is very difficult to cope with such long power cuts. The inverters have also stopped working after two to three hours, making it difficult for the patients.The problem is not limited to just one society but two other housing complexes in the area are facing similar issues. Jayanti Jadhav from Kumar Paradise said it is common occurrence for two to three-hour power cuts every day. Her society, which has little over 100 flats, said they also received no electricity supply on Thursday night and Friday morning but the issue is not as severe compared to La Salette.