Squall plunges tricity into darkness for hours

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 22

Almost all parts of the city plunged into darkness after squall struck here last night.

The high-velocity wind uprooted trees. Branches of trees fell on electricity poles and wires snapping power supply for hours. The main supply line from Mohali also broke causing power outages in several sectors.

The complaint centers received more than 300 calls from different sectors. The most-affected areas were Sectors 44, 45, 19, 18, 27, 49, 50 and 51 besides villages and colonies where the power supply could be restored only early in the morning.

Residents also faced frequent power cut during the day due to maintenance work.

MP Singh, Superintending Engineer, UT, said trees fell on electricity cables making the power restoration task difficult. To avoid any mishap, power supply was also snapped in many sectors, he added.

Many residents, however, complained that they the power supply was not restored even after the storm had passed.

Rachna Tiwari, a resident of Sector 44-D, said there was no power supply in their area after the squall and nobody took the call at the complaint centre.

Some other sectors where residents faced power cuts were 38, 39, 11, 35, 22, 34, 46 and 47.

Some residents of Sector 43 said squall left them powerless for more than five hours. There were also reports of power supply being affected in the Industrial Area.