Pune: Testing of smart meters and stoppage of power supply to streetlights caused a sudden disruption to around 50 traffic signals in different areas under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday.According to PMC officials, they approached Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to restore the supply and restart the signals. “The power supply to traffic signals and streetlights is combined in many locations. A private agency in charge of supplying power to streetlights disconnected it. Their officials wanted to test the impact when supply to these poles is stopped during daytime,” said Pramod Unde, superintending engineer (electrical).Asked about claims in a widely circulated social media post that PMC did not clear its electricity bill dues, leading to the power disconnection, Unde said those claims were false. “The bills are prepaid. Adequate funds were given in advance, so the issue of non-payment of bills does not arise,” he said.As per PMC and traffic police officials, the traffic signals were not functioning during the day, which led to major traffic disruptions. Following complaints from the traffic police department, a delegation of PMC officials visited the MSEDCL office and reported the incident.The PMC’s electrical department shoulders the responsibility of providing streetlights on roads across Pune city, managing the streetlights, and carrying out their maintenance and repairs. It also handles the installation and maintenance of traffic control lights at city intersections in coordination with the additional commissioner and the traffic police.According to officials, civic areas, including the 32 newly merged villages, have over 1 lakh streetlights. The city has around 400 traffic signals, of which 30% source power directly from streetlights.
