Drunk driver’s car hits electricity pole in Nabha, causes 20hour outage

NABHA: Residents of several colonies in Nabha town of Patiala district had to suffer a power outage for over 20 hours after a drunk man rammed his car into an electric pole on Tuesday night, just 200 metres from the local police station.

An eyewitness, Parminder Singh, said the driver was heavily drunk and after the accident he came out of the car with a liquor bottle, without even turning off the ignition.

The heavily damaged Volkswagen Polo car was abandoned by the driver, who fled the spot.

Parmjeet Bawa, a resident of the area, said the accident that took place around 10pm led to a massive sparking and the people living in the neighbourhood immediately rushed out of their houses.

Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) junior engi- neer (JE) Harbans singh said the accident stopped the power supply to a number of colonies as 17 transformers were affected.

“We could resume the power supply at only 8 of these transformers after working throughout the night,” he said. The repair work in other areas continued till Wednesday evening.

Asked if the driver has been identified, Nabha station house officer (SHO) Karnail Singh said, “We have not received any information about the incident.”

The JE said that they are calculating the loss and the report will be submitted to the police.

“The accident not only left us without power, it also affected our water supply. We could not fill the water tank as our motor didn’t work without electricity,” said Rajni, a resident of the area.