A fire and explosion at a high-voltage electricity substation in Chinchwad on Sunday disrupted power supply to about 310,000 customers across Pimpri-Chinchwad and western Pune, while Pune Metro services were also affected for a short period. The incident occurred at around 12:25 p.m. at the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company’s Chinchwad substation, according to a report by Loksatta citing Mahapareshan and Mahavitaran updates.
The explosion took place in a 22-kilovolt current transformer and circuit breaker, causing a fire and significant damage to part of the electrical equipment. Fire-control operations were completed, after which the damaged section was kept shut while officials worked to restore supply through the remaining system and alternative power routes.
The outage affected several parts of Pimpri-Chinchwad, including Pradhikaran, Ravet, Kalewadi, Wakad, Pimple Gurav, Pimple Nilakh, Sangvi, Punawale and Tathawade. Supply was also interrupted for a period in Shivajinagar, Aundh, Ganeshkhind, Senapati Bapat Road, Shivajinagar village, Model Colony and the Bal Gandharva area.
Mahavitaran said power supply in most affected areas had been restored through alternative routes by around 3 p.m. The Shivajinagar area received supply at about 1:50 p.m., after roughly 90 minutes of restoration work. However, some parts of Nigdi, Yamunanagar, Bijlinagar, Ravet, Mamurdi, Dehu Road, Chinchwad, Tathawade and Wakad took longer to return to normal.
According to the reported figures, around 260,000 customers in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Bhosari were affected. A further 50,000 customers in Shivajinagar, Aundh, Ganeshkhind, Senapati Bapat Road, Model Colony and nearby areas faced interruptions, taking the reported total to approximately 310,000 customers.
The incident also affected electricity supply from the Ganeshkhind high-voltage substation to Pune Metro. The disruption temporarily affected metro operations, with trains reportedly remaining halted with passengers for around half an hour. The report did not provide a separate duration for the interruption to metro services.
Supply was restored to households in Talegaon through an alternative route from Khopoli, although Mahavitaran reported technical difficulties in restoring industrial connections there. The Ambethan substation was reported to have returned to normal at around 4:20 p.m. The outage affected approximately 1,500 industries in the Ambethan and Talegaon areas.
Mahapareshan continued to keep the damaged portion of the Chinchwad substation isolated while restoration work proceeded on the remaining equipment. Mahavitaran’s reported restoration process relied on alternative supply routes for affected residential and urban service areas.
