12-hr outage in most parts of Mohali district

Mohali, May 18

The night storm accompanied by rain caused extensive damage to the power infrastructure as well as green cover, causing inconvenience to residents here today. Power supply in most areas remained disrupted for nearly 12 hours as high-velocity winds wreaked havoc in the district.

Trees snapped and falling branches damaged power cables at multiple places, causing a virtual blackout in the district. Many power poles were knocked down in the Phase 3B2 area, while a transformer was damaged in Sector 77. Incidents of cables snapping were received from a number of places.

Winds blew away banners and flexboards, causing short-circuits at many places. While power supply was restored in some areas around 9 am, it remained affected in most areas till 12 noon.

In Phase 9, some HIG residents complained of no power supply till 1 pm. Students had to face inconvenience due to the ongoing school exams.

Many areas in Zirakpur also remain without power till 12.30 pm and residents had to face grave inconvenience. Peer Muchhalla, Baltana, AKS, New Defence Colony, Nagla road, Saini Vihar, Harmilap Nagar and areas along the Chandigarh-Ambala highway faced outage till afternoon.

Surinder Singh Bains, SE, Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL), Zirakpur, said: “The main line was not affected. There were local issues as falling tree branches snapped cables. Even where the lines were not affected, staff had to patrol the area and check for faults. It took time to rule out damage to the infrastructure.”

In Dera Bassi, a jam-like situation was witnessed on the Ramgarh road as tree branches damaged cables and blocked the stretch at several places. Long queues of trucks and vehicles were seen on the road till afternoon as workers removed branches and PSPCL officials restored the snapped cables.

Most of the areas in Kharar remained powerless throughout the night till 12 noon.

In Zirakpur, the sewage line alongside the main Chandigarh-Ambala highway was choked and water stagnated on the road, leading to slow movement of traffic. It led to long queues of vehicles.

PSPCL infra takes hit

• Power poles knocked down in Phase 3B2 area, a transformer damaged in Sector 77; cables snapped at a number of places in district
• Power supply was restored in some areas of Mohali around 9 am, but it remained affected in most of the areas till 12 noon
• Many Zirakpur areas remained without power till 12.30 pm; the Ramgarh road in Dera Bassi remained blocked by branches and cables causing jam