Thousands of residents in Futala, Bharat Nagar and adjoining areas were left without electricity for nearly 28 hours after an underground high-voltage power cable was damaged during utility-related work, triggering widespread disruption and inconvenience.
The prolonged outage severely affected households, water supply systems, commercial establishments and small businesses. Residents, particularly senior citizens, patients, children and students, faced significant hardship as the area remained without power for more than a day. Local traders also reported financial losses due to the extended disruption.
Reacting to the incident, Congress Corporator and Standing Committee Member Abhijeet Jha held both OCW and the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) responsible for the blackout. He alleged that the incident exposed serious negligence in the planning, execution and supervision of ongoing utility works. According to Jha, agencies carrying out excavation and inspection activities are duty-bound to verify the location of underground infrastructure and ensure adequate safeguards before commencing work.
He stated that damage to a critical power line resulting in a 28-hour outage cannot be treated as a routine technical lapse, as thousands of citizens were forced to suffer because of the negligence of the agencies involved. Jha demanded that responsibility be fixed on both OCW and the concerned NMC officials and contractors associated with the work.
Calling for a thorough investigation, Jha urged the civic administration to determine how the damage occurred, identify the lapses that led to the prolonged disruption and initiate strict action against those found responsible. He also stressed the need for stronger accountability mechanisms and stricter monitoring of infrastructure projects to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The incident has once again raised concerns over the execution of ongoing civic works across the city, with residents demanding greater accountability from public agencies entrusted with essential services.
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