Metro Construction Disrupts Power for 22 Hours in Pune's Hinjewadi, Affecting Thousands
Approximately 3,000 residents of Yashwin Housing Society in Hinjewadi Phase 2, Pune, endured a grueling power outage exceeding 22 hours this week. The blackout commenced on Monday afternoon when an underground high-tension cable was allegedly damaged during construction work for the PMRDA's Shivajinagar-Hinjewadi Metro route.
Severe Impact on IT Professionals and Residents
The society, comprising 572 flats across four wings, houses a significant population of IT professionals. The prolonged electricity failure caused major disruptions for those working from home. "We spent over Rs36,000 on nearly 400 litres of diesel to run the generator and keep essential common services operational," revealed Sandip Shewalkar, a resident.
Residents reported that repeated complaints to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) went unanswered. Online grievances were allegedly marked as resolved without any actual restoration of power or communication regarding the expected timeline for repair.
Official Statement and Cause of the Outage
In an official statement, MSEDCL confirmed, "The power supply to Yashwin Housing Society in the Hinjewadi area was disrupted at 12.48pm on Monday after a high-tension line was damaged during the Metro construction work. After nearly 22 hours of continuous efforts, the electricity department staff managed to restore supply at 10.50am on Tuesday."
The incident occurred near the Döhler Company on the road towards Hinjewadi Phase 3, where Metro station work is currently active. According to MSEDCL officials, multiple layers of concrete were dumped over their cables during construction, burying them deeper and causing a fault in the 22 kV high-tension line. This line powers three transformers serving the society's 572 consumers.
Resident Hardships and Broader Issues
The outage inflicted considerable hardship. "Children had to sleep through the night without ceiling fans because of the outage. Senior citizens, along with almost all residents, faced hardship despite it being no fault of ours," said resident Pratik Kumar. He noted that while his day shift allowed a late start, night-shift workers were severely impacted, unable to log into their systems.
Another resident highlighted the limitations of backup power, stating their inverter could not sustain a 20-22 hour outage. Balaji Ranganathan pointed to a worrying trend: "There has been an increase in long power cuts in the area over the past three months. The authorities concerned must work out a plan to address this issue."
Lack of Coordination Blamed for Recurring Problems
MSEDCL officials acknowledged that such power outages are recurring in the area, attributing the root cause to a lack of coordination between Metro contractors and the power utility. A senior MSEDCL official explained that contractors often begin digging without prior consultation, frequently damaging cables. "Even as the issue was highlighted with the Metro officials on several occasions, there has been no solution to it," he lamented.
At the time of reporting, responses to inquiries sent to PMRDA officials overseeing the Metro work were still awaited.
