Parts of Delhi face blackouts as poles, wires damaged by thunderstorm, heavy rain

Commuters in Delhi-NCR were faced with lengthy jams after rainfall and waterlogging disrupted traffic. (Image credit: JaiveerShergill/Twitter)

The early morning storm on Monday led to power supply disruptions in different parts of Delhi as trees and branches fell on overhead wires and other installations, discom officials said.
The power outages, ranging from a few minutes to several hours, were reported from different parts of the city, including Shalimar Bagh, Keshav Puram, Moti Nagar, Bawana, Narela, Mustafabad, Najafgarh, Dwarka among others, they said.

Heavy rains and thunderstorm on Monday brought Delhiites a much-needed respite from the lengthy spell of sweltering heat, but it also affected road and air traffic during the morning rush hours, and brought down houses and trees, leaving at least eight people injured.

These instances of power disruptions were reported mainly after trees and branches fell on overhead electricity lines and poles due to the gusty wind during the storm.

Wet and swinging tree branches also touch the overhead cables causing short circuit, sparking and outages. Preventive shut downs in such circumstances particularly in waterlogged localities were taken and most of the faults were rectified within half-an-hour,” said a discom official.

“Operations and maintenance teams of Delhi discoms were on a high-alert and in most cases, power supply was restored quickly.
“It took a little longer than usual for restoring electricity in some areas as tree cutting and removal have to be undertaken by civic agencies,” he said.

Reports of power outages due to the storm were also reported from Motia Khan, Kundli, Nangloi, Paschim Vihar, Mukherjee Nagar, Badli, Mangolpuri and Kirari.

“Heavy rains at multiple intervals with storm caused damages to the electrical network and repeated tripping, leading to disruption in power supply,” said a Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd(TPDDL) spokesperson.
Teams of TPDDL worked relentlessly to restore power supply in affected areas with safety and caution, he said.

“Dedicated teams and vehicles were deployed at various places to cater to any emergency. Additionally, adequate inventory of essential spare parts, tools and equipment, including transformers, switch-gear were ensured to minimize the restoration time,” said the TPDDL spokesperson.