Blackout at Hesaraghatta as truck crashes 35 electric poles; drunken driver held
Bengaluru: A major electrical disaster was averted on the Hesaraghatta main road early Saturday morning when the locals stopped a tipper truck, driven by a drunken driver, which pulled down 35 transmission poles. The driver has been taken into custody.
No casualties were reported in the incident that happened post-midnight, Times of India reported. The tipper pulled down 35 transmission poles of 11kv low tension (LT) power installed within a stretch of one kilometer, disrupting electricity supply to areas like Soladevanahalli, Chikkabanavara, Dwaraka Nagar and Bagalagunte.
Chikkabanavara traffic police stated that the truck was transporting sand to a construction site near Hesaraghatta around 1.30 am in the morning. The driver, identified as Subramani, was under the influence of alcohol and made an error in identifying the gear lever and the hydraulic switch. As a result, he used both, the lever and the switch, resulting in the dumper on the tipper being lifted and getting entangled with the transmission lines beside the road. Unaware of the impending disaster, he continued to drive the truck down the road for more than a kilometer, pulling down the conductors and transmission poles along.
The power lines tripped because of his rash driving and residents of the area, who heard a loud noise, rushed out of their houses in panic. They saw the truck plucking out the electric poles and hurriedly stopped the driver. They also informed the BESCOM officials and the police about the incident. The driver was taken into custody and a breath analyzer test revealed that he had consumed alcohol beyond the permissible limit.
A BESCOM official said that their engineers realized the intensity of the damage done after reaching the spot. However, an alarm had gone off at the control room earlier when the feeder got tripped immediately after the transmission lines snapped, indicating a disastrous situation. The severity of damage to the electrical infrastructure resulted in loss of power supply to nearly 10,000 houses.
HJ Ramesh, Director (Technical) of BESCOM, concurred that there was heavy damage to the conductors and insulation at various points and the company would have to replace them. BESCOM succeeded in completing a major part of the replacement work and ensured that power supply was re-established to the houses in the affected areas by 6 pm on Saturday. BESCOM engineers were involved in estimating the value of the overall loss and the details would be shared with the police department later. The losses would be recovered from the tipper owner, sources in BESCOM stated.
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Heavy rain, hailstorms lash parts of Uttarakhand; all districts put on high alert
Dehradun (PTI): Heavy rain and hailstorms accompanied by strong winds lashed several districts of Uttarakhand on Sunday morning, prompting the state administration to put all district authorities on high alert.
The sudden change in weather caused uprooted trees to block roads and disrupted power supply at various locations.
Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman chaired a review meeting with district officials to assess the situation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast light to moderate rain and thunderstorms at most places across all districts for Monday and Tuesday. Snowfall is expected in regions situated at altitudes of 4,000 metres and above.
An 'orange alert' remains in place for Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar. These districts are likely to witness isolated heavy rain, hailstorms, and intense to very intense spells of rain accompanied by gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph, the IMD said.
The weather office predicted that maximum temperatures across the state are likely to fall by 3-5 degrees Celsius over the next three to four days. During the past 24 hours, maximum temperatures remained "markedly below normal" in the plains and ranged from "markedly" to "appreciably" below normal in the hilly regions.
Dehradun experienced dark, overcast skies early Sunday, creating night-like conditions during morning hours. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius, 5.3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal average.
For the state capital, the forecast predicts a partly to generally cloudy sky with a high of 31 degrees Celsius and a low of 19 degrees Celsius.
Significant rainfall was recorded across the state after 8.30 am on Sunday, with Jollygrant receiving 21.6 mm and Mohakampur recording 19.8 mm. Other areas, including Mukteshwar (15.0 mm), Mussoorie (13.4 mm), and Pithoragarh (8.5 mm), also saw measurable precipitation.
Secretary Suman directed officials to clear blocked roads on priority to ensure public convenience. Specific instructions were issued regarding the Char Dham Yatra, ordering that helicopter services must operate strictly according to weather conditions to ensure pilgrims' safety.
Isolated places in the remaining hilly districts are also expected to experience thunderstorms with lightning and intense rain spells.
