Cyclone Nisagra causes power outage in 4 Maharashtra districts; supply to be restored soon

Even as Cyclone Nisarga made landfall but was far from causing massive destruction in Maharashtra, with few districts facing little damage, power supply was disrupted. More than 25 lakh consumers of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDC) of four districts - Raigad, Palghar, Thane and Pune witnessed power cut due to Cyclone Nisarga. However, the Maharashtra government said that restoration of power supply has been started in Ratnagiri & Shrivardhan and supply in Murud, Mandgaon, Goregaon, Alibag, Mhasala, Guhagar, Dapoli taluquas will be restored as soon.

The state utility cut the power supply to many substations in these districts as a precautionary measure, the MSEDCL said. The power utility said it was working on a war footing to restore power supply in these areas by Thursday. "Due to the cyclone, electric poles at various locations were uprooted and power supply was interrupted. Though it is difficult to ascertain the extent of damage caused because of this cyclone, we are working on war footing basis to restore the supply. Due to the strong winds and rain, electricity poles at various locations collapsed. There were incidents where trees fell on high and low tension cables, which further interrupted power supply in some areas. Our officers have been on the ground and we will try to restore power supply by tomorrow," the MSEDCL said in a statement.

READ | Cyclone Nisarga LIVE Updates

MSEDCL supplies electricity to over 2.7 crore consumers in the state, except Mumbai, including more than 1.65 crore residential customers. Mumbai's power demand is catered by three power utilities including BEST, Adani Electricity and Tata Power.

Officials of these utilities confirmed that there was no power disruption in Mumbai as the impact of the cyclone was minimal in the city, as compared to other parts of the state. "It is difficult to ascertain the damage caused to out distribution network at this moment as the cyclone is likely to affect other parts of the state as well while it moves forward. We have set up a control room to monitor the situation and to take immediate actions," the official added.

READ | Cyclone Nisarga LIVE Updates: No major impact in Gujarat & Maharashtra; weakens into storm

Cyclone Nisarga 

Cyclone Nisarga had made landfall in Alibaug on Maharashtra's coast at around 1 o'clock and lasted for nearly 3 hours. The NDRF had already evacuated nearly one lakh people prone to the cyclone. Visuals of heavy rainfall, strong winds and high tides were witnessed across Mumbai, Alibag and Raigad. Several regions also reported fallen trees and damage to property. However, no major impact has been reported from Gujarat. 

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The chief of National Disaster Response Force said the team succeeded in the "litmus test" of saving lives and commended the coordination between the central and the state government in their response to the storm. In comparison to Cyclone Amphan, the official said Nisarga was a 'negotiable cyclone'.

Speaking to Republic TV, SN Pradhan, NDRF Director-General, said, "The litmus test was the saving of life. That was priority number one and I think we may have succeeded in that. Although it will take some time to know of the lives lost. But one thing is clear, it was anticipated well, planned well, coordination between the central and the state government was good. So have been able to ensure that there is minimal loss of life and property."

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