55 hours later, electricity supply restored at flood-hit Rameshwadi near Mumbai

Residents of Rameshwadi in Badlapur (West) were without power supply for almost 55 hours since Sunday morning. They got electricity on Tuesday evening. “There was no water without electricity. With no lift, the elderly living in the building faced a lot of difficulties,” said Pravin Kale, 58, a resident of Vikas Galaxy, a seven-storey building.

“We got power on Tuesday evening. Others who live nearby got electricity on Monday,” he added.

Some residents had shifted elderly members and children to their relative’s place. “There was no waterlogging on our building premises but water entered the transformers and officials said there was some short circuit,” said Vikas Sonawane, 45, another resident.

“We restored electricity in all areas by Tuesday evening. It was restored in Sanewadi by diverting loading of nearby feeders. The work was done phase by phase so it took time to restore electricity,” said an officer of MSEDCL from Badlapur (West) division.

A 38-year-old pregnant woman from Nandivli in Kalyan (West) started feeling labour pains on Sunday night when the entire city was struggling to stay afloat.

Her husband Ravindra Talware, 50, a labourer, sought help for an ambulance but it was difficult for the vehicle to reach their area. He managed to get an autorickshaw to take his wife Ashthasheela to Rukminibai civic hospital, which is around 20 minutes away. They initially took the Patripool bridge but Bail Bazaar area was flooded. They had to take a U-turn and cross Pune Link Road and Anand Dighe bridge. “I contacted a social worker for help. When he agreed to pay, I took my wife to a private hospital but it was shut. Then, we took her to another private hospital, where she delivered a boy in 20 minutes,” said Talware.

The private hospital is less than a kilometre away from the couple’s house but it took them 70 minutes to reach there. They reached the hospital around 10.10pm and she delivered a a baby boy around 10.30pm.

He added, “I was devastated to know that there is no way to reach the hospital. We somehow reached the hospital in the nick of time.”

First Published: Aug 07, 2019 00:20 IST