Pune: A fire in a sugarcane field beneath a high-voltage tower line between Markal and Alandi led to a major power outage affecting over 1.89 lakh consumers in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chakan MIDC, and Bhosari on Sunday morning, February 23.

The fire caused tripping in the 400 kV Lonikand-Talegaon transmission line, creating a power deficit of 314 megawatts. This resulted in the activation of the Load Tripping Scheme (LTS), an automatic power management system, which led to power cuts in multiple areas.

The incident occurred at 10:09 AM, and power remained disrupted until 11:06 AM. Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) engineers investigated and found that moisture-laden smoke from the burning sugarcane triggered the tripping of the high-voltage line. Once the fire was controlled, the tower line was inspected, and electricity supply was restored.

The tripping in the Lonikand-Talegaon 400 kV transmission line at 10:00 AM led to a 314 MW transmission shortfall, causing an overload on the Talegaon-Chakan 400 kV tower line. To prevent damage to the power grid, the Load Tripping Scheme (LTS) was activated, leading to power cuts in Chakan MIDC and nearby industrial zones.

As a result, industrial power consumers in Chakan MIDC, Shindegaon, Savardari, Varale, Vasuli, Yelwadi, Khalumbre, Sangurdi, MIDC Phase 2, Bhamboli, Kuruli, Nanekarwadi, Chimboli, and Nighoje experienced a one-hour power outage. The outage impacted 900 high-voltage and 4,000 low-voltage industrial consumers, along with 35,000 residential and commercial consumers.

The outage extended beyond industrial areas, affecting around 1.5 lakh consumers in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Bhosari village, Bhosari MIDC, Punawale, Tathawade, Rahatani, Thergaon, Tukaram Nagar, Pradhikaran, Nashik Road, Indrayani Nagar, Landewadi, Block T, and J&S. Residents in these areas faced significant power disruptions during the morning hours.