A major power outage caused by a fault in underground high-tension cables has disrupted the electricity supply to over 52,000 consumers, including 70 to 90 IT and ITES firms, in Hinjewadi, Pune, for the past two days. According to the MSEDCL, a major power outage occurred on Sunday afternoon due to a fault in the 220 kV Infosys to 220 kV Pegasus extra high voltage underground power cable of the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (Mahapareshan) near the Hinjewadi Phase-2 metro station.
“As a result, power supply to over 52,000 consumers under MSEDCL’s Ganeshkhind and Pune Rural divisions was disrupted from Sunday afternoon,” an official said on Monday. He said MSEDCL swiftly acted on a war footing and restored supply to all low-tension consumers in phases through alternative routes by early Monday morning. “Restoration of supply to some high-tension consumers will take longer and the complete restoration of power is likely to be completed by Wednesday morning,” he added.
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The official said that domestic consumers and 70 to 90 firms, including IT and ITes companies, have been affected by the sudden power cut. Ravindra Sinha, convenor of the Hinjwadi Residents Welfare Association, said that it has now been more than 30 hours, and the people in and around the Hinjewadi IT park are in the dark.
“The MSEDCL has been working on war footing to fix the issue at the Phase 2 in Hinjewadi. The fault is in the underground high tension cables. The MSEDCL engineers have managed to restore power in some residential areas,” he said, adding that the majority of housing societies have now run out of backup and are facing acute problems in terms of water pumping and lifts.
Panvanjit Mane, President of Forum for IT Employees (FITE) said that in the event of a power outage, IT firms should allow their employees to work from home. NCP (SP) leader and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule stated on X that the electricity supply to around 93 companies in the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park has been disrupted.
“Some of the leading companies in the information technology sector are located in this region. It is essential to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to them. Power outages in industrial areas directly impact the productivity of companies, which in turn affects sectors dependent on industrial output,” she said.
Sule stated that citizens in Hinjewadi and nearby areas have been severely affected, with power supply to homes being completely cut off. “I urge the State Energy Minister to establish an alternative power infrastructure in this region to prevent such incidents from recurring,” said Sule.
Forum for IT Employees (FITE) President Pavanjit Mane said, "Yesterday, there was a power outage in Hinjewadi which lasted for 24 hours, and even today the power has not been restored... We had already highlighted several infrastructure issues, and this power outage is a very important one. When industrial power is cut, it also impacts residential power"