The AOA of Shipra Suncity Phase I was forced to open the banquet hall to comfort the residents at midnight.
Following the development works on two locations, around 40,000 residents of Shipra Suncity, Ghaziabad, reeled under severe power crises for 17 hours straight, starting from Monday till Tuesday. However, the faults at the main cable and spare cable were later fixed and power was restored later.
The oddly long hours of powercut exhausted the power back up in the houses and forced the residents to move out in the open with an aim to beat the hot and humid nights. It was such a wary situation that around 1.00 am, the AOA of Shipra Suncity Phase I was forced to open the banquet hall to comfort the residents. The AOA, through WhatsApp groups, spread across the message to the residents asking them to take shelter in the hall.
Sunil Pandey, Executive Engineer of PVVNL told that augmentation work of NH 24 and digging for an upcoming commercial project behind Shipra Mall, near underpass to Noida Sector 62, led this problem. “Our main power line and the spare line was broken at many points 14 feet below the ground. Finding and fixing all the points took time in the restoration of the power supply,” he said.
But the residents are furious with this approach. They complained that this has become a norm by PVVNL. “First, they disrupt the supply (power) and then they inform us, that too after many hours are passed,” complained Vineet Bhargawa, a resident of Shipra Sun City Phase I.
“The fault happened because of the digging. Was NHAI not aware that electric cables are lying underground? Were they not cautioned that the digging would lead to disruption in the power supply? Is it not the responsibility of PVVNL officials to stay on the site and guide them, so that the cables are not damaged?" questioned Prashant Jha, another resident of Shipra Sun City Phase I.
Commenting on this, Pandey said that whenever a line is disrupted by PVVNL, the residents are informed in advance. However, in development works done by other agencies, government or private companies, we can only advise them to stay alert, but cannot monitor their works," added Pandey.
