Morung Express News Dimapur | January 6 Padumpukhuri experienced power blackout for 3 days after the distribution transformer feeding the village and a part of Naharbari went kaput on January 3. Supply was restored only on Friday evening after a replacement was put into circuit. A peeved resident of Padumphukuri told The Morung Express that the 500Kva transformer was relatively new as it was put into service only a few months back. “Overloading” was reportedly the cause for the breakdown while the resident held that the chances of overloading during winter are low. According to the resident, the delay in restoring supply was attributed to unavailability of equivalent capacity transformer at the Departmental Central Store in Dimapur. The resident termed it as an embarrassment for the Department of Power, Nagaland to not have in place “alternative arrangements” for contingencies. A department official when contacted admitted to the department running short on spare transformers but was able to find a replacement. The official maintained that overloading of transformers can occur even in winter as many households use high power consumption electrical appliances. The transformer, which broke down, was installed in October 2016 replacing a previously existing 315Kva capacity transformer. As per the official, the broken down 500 Kva transformer was availed on loan as a stop gap arrangement to tide over the recurring power outages in Padumpukhuri.
