As heavy rains wreaked havoc on Friday, a slew of problems grappled the national Capital including long power cuts due to technical faults and precautionary shutdown in the city’s waterlogged areas.
Residents of Dwarka, Jangpura and Laxmi Nagar said the power supply was cut as soon as it started raining in their areas. In Lutyen’s Delhi and Central Delhi reportedly power was cut for at least four hours in the morning from 6 am to 10 am while there was a power outage in the Old Parliament building.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor shared that there was a power cut at his official residence since 6 am by the discoms out of fear of electrocution. “The power supply was cut around 3-4 am amid heavy rains and was restored hours later at 4 pm,” a Jangpura resident Pranav Mishra said.
Many areas, including Nizamuddin, Jangpura, Sector 7 in Dwarka, parts of Pitampura, Rohini, Mukherjee Nagar, Timarpur, parts of Hauz Khas, Green Park, Mayapuri, Sangam Vihar, Paharganj, Sadar Bazar, Ram Nagar, Bara Hindu Rao, Karawal Nagar, Sonia Vihar, Seelampur, Laxmi Nagar, and Trilok Puri, faced power outages of varying durations.
The rain and thunderstorm also caused disruption of power supply in parts of north Delhi, including Model Town, Azadpur and Indira Vihar, among others, a spokesperson of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) said.
A discom official said the rain caused damages to power lines, poles and other installations in different parts of the national capital causing the outages. In many areas, the electricity supply was temporarily discontinued to prevent incidents of electrocution.
“Heavy rains led to instances of power disruptions in some areas of the city, primarily due to water logging and trees and their branches falling on electricity cables. To safeguard human lives and prevent electrocution, it became necessary to switch off the electricity supply in some waterlogged and low-lying areas as a precautionary measure,” a spokesperson of BSES discoms (distribution companies) BRPL and BYPL said.
However, repair works to restore the supply were undertaken immediately. According to a BSES official, its Operations and Maintenance Teams were on high alert, and Quick Response Teams (QRTs) were pressed into service. “In most cases, power supply was restored quickly,” he said.
“However, it took a little longer than usual to restore electricity in some areas as we had to wait for the water to recede. For us, the safety of citizens is paramount,” he added as heavy rains lashed Delhi early Friday, waterlogging roads across the city and causing a portion of the roof of the Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 to collapse.
