The Soaring temperatures and frequent power breakdowns and planned shut down events have led to major discontent among the citizens. Several areas in the city have been inundated with frequent power breaks.
Despite the various protests, the situation has seen little improvement. On the other hand, several high-value projects like the MahaMetro and Hyperloop are in the news, when basic infrastructure and power remain unattended.
Pune365 spoke to several citizens and activists to take stock of the issues and concerns on power and the lack of it…
“The reason for the frequent power cuts in Pune is definitely the poor electrical infrastructure provided in the city,” says Deepika Agarwal, Consulting editor. While our problems seem to just increase there is no solution yet from the government.
In our area, we don’t only have a power cut issue but there is always a voltage surge issue. This leads to a lot of our expensive household appliances being rendered useless. is the government going to pay us back for these losses?
The generators which were one used only as a backup has now turned into a source with these power outages. Many people have installed solar lighting plants in their houses too. in a way, they are contributing to the society, but not everyone can afford to install a solar power plant.
I see the only solution being a stable grid and if we are a smart city, we ought to have a smart power grid!
“Pune is known as a great city to live in, yet, it has these frequent power issues. These breaks happen most often without notice and frequently too” says Mahesh Shelke, an affected citizen.
Pune is believed to be a fast developing city and yet, many parts of Pune has load shedding for 7-8 hours at a stretch which is unacceptable. It is the second largest city of Maharashtra and the hub of Information Technology and such issues are so unfortunate.
“For the past 5-6 years, we have been facing prolonged power cuts, due to which there is so much inconvenience caused with the inability to use basic appliances like pumps. geysers, water purifiers etc adds Shelke.
“The city has expanded so much over the past few years and blaming MSEDCL would be completely appropriate,” says Advocate and Activist, Netraprakash Bhog
The demand of power supply has increased tremendously.The increases construction is the one of main reasons why citizens have been facing frequent power cuts. The only solution to power cut is, there should be a thorough check on the units supplied and consumed by a specific area in the city.
There are several construction sites that consume electricity even by illegal means. This is potentially dangerous too as they keep the wires hanging from the main dp box which can lead to severe electrocution accidents. All such offenders who steal and tap power illegally must be booked.” Bhog adds.
This is certainly not a smart city it’s a really dumb city with such prolonged power cuts. Even routine office work goes for a toss,” says Vivek Gholap, an IT professional.
“We had recently met the authorities of MSEDCL and asked them for the reasons for the issue of power but they were reluctant to give us any clear answers. During the summer season, the powercut increases to several hours.
The only solution to the increasing demand, if that is the problem, is that they should arrange for additional sources and ensure an adequate supply of electricity.” he adds.
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#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.
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