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This is an archive article published on June 4, 2023
Major power outage hits Vadodara due to strong winds
Around 7am Sunday, a dust storm estimated to be blowing at 80 kmph hit Vadodara city, bringing down two major MGVCL transformers -- Vasna and Manjalpur in the South Zone of the city
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The MGVCL department also received many individual complaints of power lines snapping due to fallen trees and damaged electricity poles. (Representational/ File)
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Major power outage hits Vadodara due to strong winds
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Vadodara city suffered a major power outage throughout Sunday after a heavy spell of rain accompanied by gusty winds hit the city early morning, felling hundreds of trees and damaging two major transformers of the Madhya Gujarat Vij Corporation Limited (MGVCL). The electricity outage continued for over nine hours before it was restored in most of the affected areas by 7 pm Sunday.
Around 7am Sunday, a dust storm estimated to be blowing at 80 kmph hit Vadodara city, bringing down two major MGVCL transformers — Vasna and Manjalpur in the South Zone of the city. The MGVCL department also received many individual complaints of power lines snapping due to fallen trees and damaged electricity poles. MGVCL Superintending Engineer of Vadodara city Circle, DV Patel, told this newspaper that although the department had shut down 96 feeders in the city as a “precautionary measure”, almost 25 were damaged because of the storm.
“For precautions, we had closed down 96 feeders and once the rain spell ended about an hour and a half later, we restarted about 75 of them but the remaining feeders had suffered damage and the teams immediately rushed to restore electricity… However, the major damage that MGVCL suffered was the collapse of two crucial transformers in Vasna and Manjalpur divisions… The team promptly erected both the transformers during the day and we have restored electricity in most of the areas of the city. Yet, there are individual complaints that we are now attending to and all the outages will be resolved soon,” said Patel.
Patel added that strong winds also impacted several electricity poles in the city. “The areas of Manjalpur, Vasna, Akota and Gorwa suffered the maximum impact due to the outage. However, our team and officials were prompt in ensuring that the work on repair begins immediately… The transformers, especially, needed major restoration as when they are damaged they also suffer oil leak,” he said.
Several solar panels on the newly inaugurated Dena-Dumad flyover came crashing down in the strong winds causing major damage. The flyover was inaugurated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Friday. The Atal Bridge connecting Genda Circle to Manisha Chowkdi in Vadodara city also saw the collapse of a patch of wall that conceals the base of the approach road. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation, however, clarified that the structure of the actual flyover had not suffered any damage.
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