SHIMLA — The residents of Kagnadhar, Sector 5 and Sector 6 in New Shimla faced an unprecedented blackout for more than 27-hours in the state capital from August 14 till 1 PM on August 15 when the power supply was finally restored by the HPSEBL.
It was a complete blackout- no connectivity, no power, no water, no work, no studies for 27 hours. The residents faced this ordeal triggered by the power failure that HPSEBL has failed to fix once and for all.
The power failure due to damaged lines is understandable for few hours. But power cuts and failures, tripping are not new to residents of Kagnadhar and Sector 5 and 6.
The residents in the city have been facing recurrent power failures stemming from transformer detonations, transmission line collapses, and a litany of unforeseen glitches and snags here and there over the years.
The electricity board has woefully failed to furnish a sustainable solution to redeem woes of the residents in this era heavily reliant on technology.
Of particular distress is the plight of students in Kagnadhar, Sector 5 and 6, a hub of academic pursuits, as they have to battle through examinations amidst the relentless blackouts.
Even residents who need power to lift water from the ground to top floor of their homes suffered a lot.
“These disruptions not only sabotaged their studies but also put them into distress and stress”, rued the students.
HPSEBL put the blame for the unprecedented 27 hours long blackout on the damaging of the transmission line by a deodar tree near BCS in morning time on August 14.
But the service lines of the HPSEBL are frequently damaged by the falling trees in the city as all its plans to put the service lines in the underground ducts remain dumped in papers.
It is due to the hard-working linemen of the power board, who are rendering the yeomen service to the city even in heavy rains, snow and wind storms, risking their life by climbing the wet and slippery poles.
They restored the transmission line at 9 PM in late evening hours on August 14 by working round the clock and electricity was restored in rest of the areas in New Shimla.
But the electricity supply failed in Kagnadhar and Sector 5 and 6 within seconds at 9.20 PM as there was “some blast in the box at site of Transformer” that controls supply to this ward.
People remained not only in darkness and but also without connectivity as all service providers Jio Fiber, Airtel, BSNL etc, which boast an uninterrupted seamless connectivity, were also exposed.
Just to save their money these service providers have laid their overhead cables through the electricity poles to provide connectivity to homes in the city, which are damaged every now and then even by leaping monkeys and langurs.
In fact, the residents in Kagnadhar ward have been facing frequent breakdown and power cuts every time there is wind storms, rains or snow in winter over the years.
But it was the longest ever ordeal blackout that they faced on August 14-15.
They demand that the HPSEBL needs to secure its transmission lines that run though the trees mainly between Block No 10 and pollution control board office and at other place in Sector 5 and 6 that also aggravate power breakdown during storms and rains.
The residents have asked HPSEBL's Managing Director rectify this chronic ordeal once and for all.
