Dust storm wreaks havoc

Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 22

Dust storm left most parts of the town ‘powerless’ for several hours and the residents too faced a lot of inconvenience.

The worst affected parts were the rural belt, including Badhmajra village, which remained without power for more than 15 hours following the storm. The storm hit the town twice - first at around 1.30 am and then at 12.30 pm today.

Other parts that remained without power for hours included Shahimajra, Sohana, Kumbhra, Mataur, Madanpura, Phase III-A, 3B1, 3B2, 6, 11, Sectors 68, 69, 70, 73, and 88.

Due to power failure for at least four hours in the wee hours here, water supply also got affected and a number of complaints of low pressure poured in from across the town.

“At least two trees were uprooted in our area and some electricity cables also got snapped in the storm. Power remained suspended for nearly five hours in our area,” said Maninder Kaur, a resident of Phase VI. Badmajra village was worst affected, where electricity cables were largely damaged at several parts due to uprooting of trees.

“There is no power in our area since last night after the storm. We faced a lot of inconvenience as there was no power and water for more than 15 hours,” said Jasbir Singh, a resident.

Power officials, who were at the spot to resume the supply, said the storm at night hit the area. But the situation worsened following the storm this afternoon.

“Electricity cables and transformers got damaged at several places due to uprooting of trees and it took hours to restore power supply in the area,” said Shaminder Singh, the SDO of the Power Department.

Power supply in Sector 69 and other adjoining areas remained suspended for hours and could not be restored till the filing of the report.

While the complaint centre of the department remained closed and telephone calls remained unanswered, PSPCL Sohana SDE HS Kang kept telling consumers that, “our men are at work”.

Another local resident Sunita Verma said she could not send her daughter to school as there was no power supply in the morning.

Water supply also hit

Due to power failure for at least four hours in the wee hours here, water supply also got affected and a number of complaints of low pressure poured in from across the town.