A severe storm that struck the district on Wednesday night caused damage worth more than Rs 2 crore to Powercom and left residents facing immense difficulties due to disrupted electricity supply. While the storm deprived many people of sleep, the extensive damage has made it difficult for Powercom to restore services quickly. Besides affecting the power infrastructure, the storm also damaged a large number of trees belonging to the Forest Department.
Mohtam Singh, Deputy Chief Engineer of Powercom’s local circle, said that 94 transformers had fallen during the storm. According to preliminary estimates, around 85 per cent of these transformers have been damaged.
He said that despite Powercom employees working throughout the night, the 66 KV substations at Pringri, Sabhra, Manochahal Kalan and Chamka Kalan had not resumed operations by Thursday evening. As a result, electricity supply had not been restored to nearly 100 villages.
Singh said the disruption was also causing financial losses to Powercom. He added that about 1,400 electricity poles had been damaged in the storm, making restoration work a major challenge. According to initial estimates, the storm caused losses exceeding Rs 2 crore to the power utility.
Residents of Tarn Taran city continued to face erratic power supply, leading to widespread dissatisfaction among consumers.
Meanwhile, nearly 100 trees belonging to the Forest Department were uprooted by the storm. The fallen trees caused financial losses to the department and disrupted traffic at several locations.
Range Officer Davinder Kumar said that department officials began assessing the damage early on Thursday morning and immediately launched operations to clear roads blocked by fallen trees.
He said trees had fallen along several roads across the district, with the Tarn Taran city area, Chabal Bypass, Tarn Taran-Patti Road, Tarn Taran-Amritsar Road and Chabal-Khemkaran Road among the worst affected.
Kumar said all trees obstructing roads had been removed and traffic restored. The fallen trees would now be cut and stored at the department’s office complex in Rasulpur before being auctioned.
