Around 350 electricity poles were damaged on Saturday night when more than 150 trees came down on them in parts of the city due to gale which lashed the city along with heavy thundershowers. It resulted in power-cut for more than 24 hours in areas like Padmarao Nagar, with hapless citizens being left in the lurch with no access to water in some cases.
“There was power cut-off at 9 p.m. on Saturday and supply was not restored even till morning, due to which we couldn’t pump water with the motor.
My son has wasted money from his number calling the electricity department,” said Ms. Maliha Ismail. She added that a huge tree had fallen in front of her house at New Bhoiguda, and that the GHMC had not sent anyone to remove it.
Similar stories emerged from several other households in areas such as Musheerabad, Jahanuma, Chaderghat, Padmarao Nagar and Chandrayangutta. People complained that they were not able to pump water to their tanks due to the power-cut, which lasted well beyond morning on Sunday. “I had to go to a relative’s place to take my bath and charge my phone,” lamented Y. Shekhar, a resident of Padmarao Nagar.
Worst sufferers
The worst sufferers were those living in Abhinav Colony and a few other areas of Padmarao Nagar, where power would be restored only by Monday morning, said an official from the electricity department.
“Power has been restored in about 60 per cent of the localities there. We have replaced the fallen poles wherever it was necessary and are procuring more to fix the damaged ones as soon as possible,” he said. In the Old City areas, power supply was disrupted for several hours in Chandrayangutta, Riyasatnagar, Jahanuma, Chaderghat and other areas. In Shaheennagar near Pahadishareef, it was learnt that electrical appliances in around 40 houses had short-circuited due to the power disruption. In Secunderabad, at S. D. road, from Clock Tower, several branches of damaged trees were littered on the main road. It was a similar sight even at Padmarao Nagar and in places near the Osmania University campus as well. According to the GHMC, 70 trees had fallen in the south zone, 53 in the north zone, one in the central zone and 24 in the west zone.
Special teams formed
A press release from the electricity board said that 10 33KV poles, 105 11KV poles, 212 low-tension (LT) poles, 14 distribution transformers and two transformers were damaged by the gale on Saturday night. Special teams were formed to tackle the situation and take up repair works on Sunday to restore power at the earliest in the city, said the note.
