City To Enjoy Stable Power Supply This Monsoon

 

If what the weatherman predicts is right, Pune is all set to enjoy an early onset of the monsoon. While this will be a welcome relief, the prospect of the accompanying power breakdowns and outages loom large on the overcast horizon…

However, if we hear right from the horses mouth, this time around the MSEDCL
( Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd ) is all set to welcome the monsoons and have detailed preventive maintenance schedules put into place.

Pune365 spoke to officials of the MSEDCL on the citizen’s power concerns and their strategy to tackle it effectively.

Speaking to Pune365, an official from MSEDCL said that “The pre-monsoon work will be completed by 31^st may. Our Regional Director  has a conducted meeting to check with the officials on the updates and the work progress.”

During the meeting, the director said the zonal officers responsible for their zones must keep transformers, light poles, cables and oil, kept ready for repairs in case of emergencies.

The pre-monsoon work includes inspection of transformers, earthing cables and terminal connections. Oil will be changed and levelled up before the monsoon hits. Also repairs of the feeder pillars and trimming the branches of trees located near the power cables are being carried out.

It also includes fuse changing in distribution boxes, maintenance of cables and pillars, changing the rusted electricity pillars, replacing cables and broken insulators.

The garbage which is usually thrown or kept in heaps below the transformers will be cleaned on a day to day basis. Citizens can also contact MSEDCL on their helpline number to register complaints 24*7.

Citizens who spoke to Pune365, however, seem to have little faith in these measures MSEDCL is believed to have initiated: 

“It is very difficult to believe the government officials when they say there will be no power cuts during the rainy season, and it is worse when they don’t respond to the complaints registered” says Ashish Shenai, Techie.

They had assured us that there would not be any power cuts during summers as well, but that was not the case. There were power cuts frequently in our area, especially in the morning.

Our area is full of working professionals and everybody rushes to work and these unannounced power cuts have landed us into trouble several times, Shenai adds.

MSEDCL officials have assured us many times, but with the first sign of showers, the whole area goes through a black out. Power breaks during the monsoons is nothing new in the city, says Sudhir Kadam, senior working professional.

A common cause of power failure is faulty lighting and if they have not installed hardy circuit breakers to prevent power cuts, the simple solution they use, is shut down the power supply.

Even when the power is supplied, the power connection is intermittent which keeps damaging electrical appliances.

Yet, I must add, that apart from the local load-shedding, most areas have not faced any power cut at least in summers, yet citizens tend to question on the pre-monsoon work being carried out by the MSEDCL, Kadam adds.

Shyam Tambe, a senior citizen says, “I wonder How Mumbai has never faced any prolonged or persisting power issues, despite having four times more rainfall than Pune.

I reside on the 10th floor and these frequent power cuts have made our life miserable and it is like climbing a mountain each time.

The officials have assured us that there won’t be any power cut but I haven’t come across any maintenance work being carried out by MSEDCL officials in my area.

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#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.