Pune: A six-hour-long power outage in several parts of Hadapsar disrupted daily routines and caused major inconvenience to the residents amid scorching Oct heat in the city on Thursday.Officials of Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) have said that the outage was necessitated by scheduled maintenance at the 22kV substation in Phursungi.Power supply remained shut from 10am to 4pm in Sasanenagar, Sayyednagar, Fursungi, Bhekrainagar, Gaadital, Papdewasti, Gondhalenagar, Satavwadi, Tukai Tekdi, Hinganemala and Kalepadal, among other areas, stated a message from MSEB.Residents were informed about the shutdown a day in advance, but many said the prior notice did very little to reduce the hardship caused by the extended interruption.Somnath Mane, additional executive engineer of Hadapsar division, said, “This was planned maintenance and service work, as the equipment needed to be repaired and it could not be delayed. Irrespective of the season or the demand, the Extra High Voltage (EHV) substation at Phursungi had to be maintained as per the schedule. However, we were able to restore the power through a back feeder. There were no power cuts apart from a short span when the supply had to be interchanged.”The residents, however, claimed that the outage lasted for over six hours. When questioned about no power supply for almost six hours, Mane said only one feeder was shut. “We were able to manage 95% of the load, but the remaining could not be managed. The system had sent messages to all the residents under the Hadapsar division. However, we had ensured that there were no long-term power supply issues,” he said.While the MSEB claimed that most areas had regular power supply, the outage affected household routines, work-from-home schedules, water supply and small businesses. Residents said the prolonged disruption made it difficult to manage essential tasks, particularly during the afternoon when temperatures peaked.They also questioned the timing of the shutdown, saying planned maintenance during a period of intense heat had added to their discomfort.Shuva Biswas, a Sasanenagar resident, said, “We did not have any power supply for almost six hours. My work got disrupted and the kids at home became cranky due to scorching heat right from 11am. As the outage lasted for long time, society’s inverter got shut down and lift supply was also disrupted. So for those living on higher floors, the situation was almost hostage-like. Senior citizens could not go down and kids were forced to use stairs.”
