Storm wreaks havoc on tricity

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 30

Residents were inconvenienced due to heavy rain and high-velocity winds last night. Some areas remained without power for as long as 22 hours, while the water supply also remained affected in most parts of the city. The rough weather damaged 60 electricity poles, 75 trees and a number of parked cars.

It all started around 10 pm when the city was lashed by gusty winds followed by heavy rain. It led to power outage. In some parts, the power supply was restored in the middle of night or in the wee hours of today.

The electricity supply was not restored in parts of Sector 33, 34, 37, 38 and other areas till the filing of the report.

22-hour Blackout in City areas

75 Trees uprooted

60 poles damaged

Water supply disrupted

“There is no electricity and water supply in Sector 38 (A and B). All complaint numbers are busy. We don’t know what to do,” said local resident Joginder Singh.

Tarsem Sharma, president, MIG Duplex Welfare Association, Sector 40-B, said: “In our area, tree branches have fallen on roads and the electricity and water supply has been disrupted.” “As the damage is too much, extra task force should be engaged so that rescue operations are carried out at full swing. Trees have fallen everywhere in Sector 38 (West), 38 and 37. Thankfully, no loss of life was reported,” said another resident.

AC Dhawan, president, Welfare Society, Sector 45-D, said: “The Horticulture Department had the tree branches removed from electricity poles. Later, the SDO told us that the contractor had been asked to carry out repair work. Our inverters stopped working as the power has been disrupted for 22 hours already. The power supply has not been restored while the SDO has now switched off his phone. At least, he should update us, even if the issue has not been resolved.”

A resident of Sector 46-A, Raj Kumar Goyal, said: “The electricity complaint numbers remained busy. Kids at home are disturbed and crying.” At some places, dead birds were seen lying on the ground.

“Normal water supply will be restored from Monday morning. Our waterworks could not operate due to the power supply issues. Generators were not enough for it,” said Shailender Singh, MC Chief Engineer. Hitesh Puri, chairman, CRAWFED, said: “People were inconvenienced due to the power and water issues. Even the power helpline remained engaged. We raised the issue with the authorities, who told us that it was a major thunderstorm and will obviously take them time to fix all wires and poles.”

Several road stretches were full of tree branches in the morning and some were even broken

31.8-mm rainfall, brace for more

From Saturday night till 8.30 am on Sunday, 31.8 mm of rainfall was reported in the city. According to the Met forecast, generally cloudy sky with light rain is expected on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.