While Nashik citizens breathed a sigh of relief to the pre-monsoon showers during early hours of June 3, the entire city and some parts of Nashik district plunged into darkness due to disruption in power supply as conductors snapped and insulators punctured. Even as the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) claimed to have carried out almost 80 per cent of the pre-monsoon maintenance works, the power supply in the city disrupted after feeders of 33 kilovolts (kv) and 11 kv gave way due to the heavy rains that lashed the city around 2 am.
The city was thrown out of gear with power supply in many parts of the city not restored till noon. Power supply in some areas was restored at night but the major parts of the city received electricity only by noon. Though the area-wise power supply was restored, it took until evening for the electricity to be restored on an individual basis, the officials said.
The 33 kv feeders supplying electricity to areas surrounding Upanagar, Shinde, Bhardrakali, Canada Corner, Military Engineering Services, Curency Note Press (CNP), Mhasrul and Pathardi Phata snapped because of lightning strikes and broken conductors.
The 11 kv feeders providing power supply to Jaigaon, Pandhurli, Deolali Camp, Ganjamal and a number of areas on the outskirts of the city also gave way due to stormy weather. The fate of rural areas in Nashik was also similar as 86 power lines of 11 kv broke down, out of which 65 were restored by noon and the work on others was still going on. Similarly, out of the 15 power lines of 33 kv which snapped, only 10 were restored by noon.
The citizens had a tough time registering complaints with the power company on June 3 morning. Storm and heavy showers pulled down trees and poles and broke conductors leaving the city ‘powerless’ since 2 am. Consumers were unable to register complaints to the MSEDCL due to unavailability of the consumer numbers.
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