Maha assembly adjourned following outage, downpour
: The on-going monsoon session of the Maharashtra state assembly in Nagpur was adjourned for the day on Friday without any business due to power failure in Vidhan Bhavan following incessant rain since Thursday night.
It was said that water entered into the transformer room located underground inside the Vidhan Bhavan campus, leading to a power failure. The city witnessed heavy rains from last night that resulted in water logging at several places, including the Vidhan Bhavan campus.
When the lower house assembled at 10 am on Friday, the members found the power failure in the campus. Assembly speaker Haribhau Bagde announced that power had to be turned off because of water logging at the transformer room and adjourned the house for an hour, amidst pandemonium from the opposition members for the mess.
An hour later when the house re-assembled, an embarrassed speaker Bagde adjourned the house for the day as the power was not restored.
Eyewitnesses said the water logging in the backyard of Vidhan Bhavan was due to dumping of trash including empty beer bottles near the manhole, which blocked the flow of water and it reached a level, close to electrical installations.
Sensing danger from the live power supply and rains, the staff switched off the power supply that led to darkness in the entire Bhavan premises.
Shortly before noon, the power supply was restored but the legislative council, which was to sit at 12, was also adjourned for the day.
The opposition members from the Congress and NCP criticised the government for the mess.
Shiv Sena, the principal ally of the BJP-led government did not spare the state government for the incident.
The embarrassment also prompted Shiv Sena leader and transport minister Diwakar Raote to blame the BJP government for the blackout.
“When heavy rains lash Mumbai and water logging is reported Shiv Sena-ruled BMC is blamed for the mess and what has happened here today, BJP should explain,” he said.
“The BJP-controlled Nagpur Municipal Corporation should have provided basic infrastructure and amenities to ensure smooth functioning of the house proceedings during the rainy days,” said another Sena member, Sunil Prabhu.