Tejas Navale
Pune, April 30, 2025: A major grass fire that broke out on a hill in Talawade on Tuesday afternoon severely damaged seven high-voltage power lines, which affected nearly 4,500 industrial units in the area. The incident, which occurred around 3:45 pm, disrupted operations across Talawade MIDC, key industrial pockets, and even crippled the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s Talawade water supply scheme.
The fire, caused by dry vegetation and strong winds, reached the edge of a stream and engulfed four 22 kV and three 33 kV power lines of Mahavitaran. These included both primary and backup lines that routinely supply electricity to the industrial zones. The destruction of the backup network posed a severe challenge to restoration efforts, which further delayed the immediate resumption of supply.
Despite the odds, Mahavitaran managed to restore power to nearly 1,800 industrial units within two hours using alternative arrangements. The remaining 2,700 consumers, including those dependent on the Talawade water scheme, had to endure extended outages until late at night.
Meanwhile, the same blaze disrupted power supply to 2,500 domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in Dehu Gaon and Chincholi villages. However, their electricity was reinstated by 6 pm through an alternate grid. Notably, this marks the ninth such fire-related outage in the region in just two months. These repeated instances have raised serious concerns about fire safety around critical power infrastructure.
Upon learning of the incident, officials immediately swung into action. Bhosari Division Executive Engineer Atul Devkar deployed three contractors and six jointers to initiate simultaneous repair work on all affected lines. Additional Executive Engineer Kiran Sarode and Assistant Engineer Hrishikesh Bansode rushed to the site and oversaw the operation. By the night, power was restored to all the industries.
