Truck uproots pole, colony in darkness for 12 hours

Noida: Over 200 houses in Hindon Vihar colony faced a 12-hour power shutdown after a truck crashed into an electric pole and uprooted it on Friday afternoon. Officials in the electricity department said there was a loss of Rs 1 lakh because of the collision.
The accused driver has been identified as Monu (32), an original resident of Bihar who works with an export company.

“The accident took place around 2.45pm on Friday. It caused massive sparks in the overhead wires. People living in the neighbourhood rushed out of their houses after hearing the sound of the collision,” a local resident said.

Bitto Kumar, another resident, said the driver appeared to be drunk. “We suspect he lost control of the vehicle at the sharp turn near the colony and crashed into the concrete electricity pole. The speed of the truck would be around 50kmph, quite high considering that the area is quite crowded. After the pole was uprooted, there was outage in the whole area,” he said.

With the mercury rising, most of the families had to spend the evening sitting outside or on the roof, waiting for power to resume. “The electricity department wasted almost four hours arguing with the truck driver and owner. Otherwise, the 200-odd houses in the area would have had power much earlier,” said Md Hussain, a local resident.

Vivek Anand, an engineer in the electricity department, said they managed to restore power supply around 3am on Saturday. “The department has taken the cost of repairs from the accused driver and the owner of the truck. The driver has been handed over to police,” he added.

Sanjay Pandey, the SHO of Sihani Gate police station, said that on the basis of a complaint by the electricity department, an FIR has been registered against the driver under IPC Section 279 (rash driving) and sections 2 and 3 (mischief causing damage) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. The driver has been arrested.