Storm pulls the plug, large parts of capital report power outages

New Delhi: Unexpected rain caused power outages across the city on Friday, including areas like CR Park, Chhatarpur, Mundka, Jaffarpur and Dwarka. Long power cuts were also reported from parts of Pitampura, Rohini, Model Town, Mukherjee Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Laxmi Nagar and Paharganj. New Delhi Municipal Council received 24 reports of power interruptions.
"Since 4am, we have a broken tree that was not mended! Residents experienced a power cut due to this. No action was taken by the agencies concerned in G Block," posted Shivangi, a resident of CR Park, on X at 4.25pm. Residents of Saidulajab village and Delhi Cantt also complained about a seven-hour power cut and no action by the power discom. In Dwarka Sector 14, residents complained about a 3.30-hour interruption and the helpline number not responding. Samiksha Mishra Wadhwa mentioned on X about no power in the west Delhi area since 5.15am.

Tagging chief minister, Prince Gupta wrote on X, "Please answer, you are troubling us even at night. Is this the aim of your triple-engine govt? Ever since your govt was formed, you impose power cuts of 2hrs, 3hrs and 4hrs daily. I complained to BSES many times."
After receiving several complaints, discom BSES stated that due to waterlogging and the falling of trees/their branches on electricity cables, the power supply was interrupted. "In a few low-lying and waterlogged areas, the supply was switched off temporarily as a precautionary measure to prevent electrocution. Our operations and maintenance teams are on high alert, with quick response teams promptly deployed to attend to complaints," it stated, claiming that in most cases, the supply was being restored swiftly.
However, BSES added, in a few pockets, restoration is taking longer than usual, primarily due to waterlogging. "Tree cutting and removal is a time-consuming process carried out in coordination with the civic agencies. Severe traffic congestion... is also delaying the movement of our teams."
Another discom, Tata Power-DDL, also stated that power lines were damaged mainly due to trees and branches falling on them. It listed 22 interruptions due to rainfall and storms, and said the average restoration time was 1 hour 7 minutes. Power restoration was completed in all affected areas by the evening, it claimed.