Dust storm: Power likely to be restored by Tuesday evening

The Jaipur discom expects to restore power to all villages of the three dust storm-affected districts by Tuesday evening. Hundreds of electricity poles were uprooted and the power cables had snapped after a dust storm tore through the districts on Wednesday night.

While the discom claims that more than 80% power has been restored, a ground report from Bharatpur indicates that large parts of the rural regions are still without power while the discom’s claim matches the ground report in Alwar.

“Work is on in full swing. While power had been restored in 4,497 villages out of 5,121 villages in Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts, power will most likely be restored in the remaining 724 villages by Tuesday evening,” Jaipur discom managing director RG Gupta said.

The discom has said that 18,355 electricity poles have been damaged apart from about 2,000 transformers and cables in the three districts.

At least 36 people lost their lives and over 100 were injured as winds over 100 kmph wreaked havoc in Bharatpur, Alwar, and Dholpur districts leaving behind a trail of destruction, uprooting hundreds of trees and electricity poles. Major damage was reported from Alwar and Bharatpur districts where trees fell and power cables snapped, plunging many localities and hundreds of villages into darkness.

Power discoms have launched work on a war-footing to restore electricity supply in the affected areas, while the administration is conducting a survey of damaged properties.

In Alwar, more than 100 trees were uprooted and many fell on stationary vehicles and snapped electricity cables. Bharatpur also suffered major damage in terms of loss of lives and infrastructure. The strong winds and rain damaged electricity poles, many of which were uprooted, disrupting power supply.

The government machinery has been put on alert after the meteorological department warned that another powerful dust storm was likely in parts of Rajasthan over the next 48 hours.