Hoardings and trees collapse, waterlogging hits traffic as heavy rain lashes Pune

Two separate incidents of hoarding collapse were reported from Sanaswadi and Dhanori area in addition to around 15 incidents of trees collapsing due to strong winds. While no casualties were reported in these incidents, at least five bikes were damaged in the hoarding collapse at Sanaswadi.

An officer from Shikrapur police station under Pune rural police said, “Around 3.30pm, a large hoarding at Sanaswadi Chowk on the Pune Ahilyanagari Highway collapsed. Fortunately, no one was injured. The hoarding collapse affected the traffic for a while. The damaged hoarding was taken off the road and traffic was cleared in half an hour.”

An officer from Pune Fire Brigade said around 4.30pm, a hoarding collapsed on the road connecting Dhanori to Porwal Quarry. No casualties or damage to other property or vehicles was reported in the incident.

In Pune, at least 10 tree collapse incidents were reported from Yerawada, Koregaon Park, Dhanori, Erandwane, Bavdhan and Mukundnagar. In Pimpri Chinchwad, five incidents of tree collapse were reported. The collapsed trees and tree branches were cleared by the fire brigade personnel.

The rains also affected the traffic flow on some arterial roads including Ganesh Khind Road, Sinhagad Road, Pune Solapur Road and Pune Ahilyanagar Road.

Hanging Internet cable injures one

A person was seriously injured after a loose cable of telecommunication system fell on him on Sinhagad road. The BJP’s Pune city unit on Tuesday urged the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to conduct an audit of all the overhead cables.

“The person was going towards Swargate on Sinhagad Road. A loose hanging cable fell on him. Although he is safe, he sustained a serious injury. This incident raises serious concern of citizens’ safety,” said city BJP chief Dheeraj Ghate as he reached out to PMC for immediately taking steps to avoid a repeat of the incident.

A web of overhead cables, mainly internet and television, exist across the city and the PMC had tried to bring a check on it in the past but did not succeed. “These overhead cables are laid haphazardly without any permission.

They are laid with no fear of action. They are neither maintained properly nor the administration keeps a check on them,” said Ghate adding the PMC should immediately do an audit of the overhead cables on city roads and junctions.
Ghate urged that the PMC to create a dedicated helpline number for citizens to register their complaints on hanging overhead cables.

Power supply hit

Power supply to some parts of the city got disrupted after unseasonal rain lashed Pune on Tuesday. MSEDCL officials said their engineers are working round the clock to ensure smooth power supply. Officials explained that several factors contributed to the power outages.

In areas with overhead power lines, the disc insulators on electricity poles are meant to prevent electricity from flowing into iron poles. But during hot summers, these insulators made of porcelain heat up, and can crack, due to which rain suddenly falls on them. When this happens, the emergency system (called a breaker) shuts off the power to prevent mishaps.

Another cause is trees falling on power lines during storms and breaking the lines. Rainwater can also get into power equipment like feeder pillars and ring main units, especially in places with poor drainage. In low-lying areas, power to substations has to be cut off for safety.

According to Nishikant Raut, Deputy Chief PRO, MSEDCL Pune, the power lines in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad were mainly underground. However excavation done by JCB for various works often lead to slight damage to the underground lines.

“However, power supply is not interrupted. But when it starts raining, accumulated water enters these lines and causes damage. Due to continuous rain, moisture is created in underground lines and power supply is also interrupted,” Raut added

In the last two months, there have been as many as eight incidents of power supply interruptions due to burning of dry waste, sugarcane or grass near the electrical equipment. This has affected about 7.65 lakh consumers.

Toll-free no. available 24 hours

Consumers can raise complaints on toll-free numbers of MSEDCL’s Central Customer Service Centre 1912 or 1800-212-3435 or 1800-233-3435. Concerned engineers and employees are informed through ‘SMS’.