Ranchi: A major fire broke out at Kokar substation (rural) along NH-33 on Friday afternoon, severing power supply to several areas such as Kokar, Dhelatoli, Mahaveer Nagar, Dipatoli and Cheshire Home Road.
Since the 33KV/11KV substation is oddly located in a densely populated neighbourhood, there was considerable panic. But, no damage to residential or commercial property was reported.
Firemen suspect the blaze, reported around 2.30pm, was triggered by a short-circuit after a truck knocked down a power pole, holding up the distribution line, barely half a kilometre from the substation.
Employees at the substation tried to use fire extinguishers available with them, but soon realised these were defunct. Local residents, armed with buckets of sand, struggled to douse the leaping flames until firemen arrived an hour later. It took a fire tender 40 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
A Kokar resident said he was alerted by an explosion-like sound. "I looked outside the window and saw the main transformer burning. My family members and I immediately vacated the house. The distance between our house and the transformer is hardly 15 metres," he said, adding that there were 50-odd houses and 30 shops in the vicinity.
One Rajesh Prasad informed substation employees about the truck accident. "I was unloading goods at a shop when I witnessed the mishap. The truck rammed into the pole and the wire snapped with a spark. Traffic remained disrupted for around 20 minutes. I rushed to the substation to ask the staff to shut down power supply. By then, the transformer was already on fire," he recalled.
A substation employee said they detected smoke and tried to switch off power to the command machine, but in vain. It is yet to be ascertained if the 5MVA transformer was completely damaged in the fire.
Assistant engineer of Jharkhand Urja Sancharan Nigam Virendra Kumar, who is in charge of the substation, confirmed a short-circuit.
"Oil chamber of the transformer was the source (of fire). We can't say much about the damage until we start maintenance work. This transformer is the main equipment that converts 33KV to 11KV. In case the damage is not major, we may be able to restore supply by late night," Kumar said.
