Protesting employees at MSEDCL’s office at Rastapeth on Wednesday. (Photo: Arul Horizon) More than 1,500 units in the Bhosari industrial area had to go without electricity for hours on Wednesday morning as Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) employees went on strike to oppose the state government’s privatisation move.
While power to some units was restored during the day, others had to wait till evening for restoration of electricity supply.
The MSEDCL employees had called a three-day strike from Tuesday midnight. The strike was, however, later withdrawn.
According to an MSEDCL statement, senior officials were on the field to ensure consumers were not inconvenienced by the strike. Residents of Sinhagad Road, Hingne, Dhayari and Vadgoan faced power outages since 3 am on Tuesday due to a major technical fault. Three sub-stations at Limaye Nagar, Abhiruchi and Prayaga suffered technical glitches, tripping power supply to over 30,000 consumers. Power supply was restored by 3.30 pm on Wednesday.
Besides, parts of Shivne, Wakad, Sus, Mahalunge, Pashan BT Kawade Road, Hadapsar, Sanghvi, Dhankawadi and Katraj, among other areas, also faced outages. In most areas, power supply was restored in a short time but in about 30 per cent of the areas, supply was restored after 7 pm on Wednesday. In the rural parts of Chakan Talegaon, Vadgaon Maval, Indori and Kuruli districts, there was outage due to faults in supply lines. Areas in Dehu Road and Sector 7 in Pimpri Chinchwad’s industrial area also saw outages.
While MSEDCL claimed adequate arrangements had been made to deal with the situation, industrial units complained they were badly hit by disruption in power supply.
Sandeep Belsare, president of Pimpri Chinchwad Small and Medium Scale Industries Association, expressed dismay over the outage in the industrial area.
Similarly, Abhay Bhor, president of Forum of Small Scale Industries Association, said there was no attempt by officials concerned to restore power to the industrial units at the earliest.
The strike was called by 32 unions over the proposed privatisation of electric supply. In Pune, over 92 per cent of the employees took part in the strike.