A crow flying into high-tension equipment at Goa’s Xeldem substation triggered a five-hour power outage across parts of Salcete and the entire Kushavati district on Wednesday, after a flashover caused three transformers to trip simultaneously.
The outage affected Margao, Fatorda, parts of Sanguem and Quepem, and other areas supplied by the substation. Power department officials initially could not determine why all three transformers had tripped at the same time. CCTV footage from the facility later showed that the bird had flown into a busbar moments before the disruption.
Superintending Engineer (South) Rajiv Samant said the crow had triggered the tripping of all three transformers. The contact with the busbar caused a flashover, interrupting electricity supply to the connected areas.
The disruption lasted longer because officials could not immediately route power through the Verna substation. A 33kV cable near a petrol pump had been damaged by a national highway contractor, according to the report. The cable formed part of the standby network but was not in service when the outage occurred.
Because the cable was not being used, officials were unable to ascertain when the damage had taken place. Its condition meant the department could not rely on that alternative supply route while the Xeldem substation was being restored.
Power supply to Sanguem and Quepem was restored earlier in the day. Electricity to Margao, Fatorda and the other affected locations was restored after noon, bringing the five-hour interruption to an end.
The incident also brought attention to the condition and operational readiness of the backup distribution network. Although the immediate failure was caused by a bird entering high-voltage equipment, the unavailable standby cable limited the department’s ability to provide an alternative supply to affected consumers.
Samant said the damaged 33kV cable would be repaired on Thursday. The repair is expected to restore the standby link associated with the Verna substation, although the report did not specify the cable’s exact location beyond its position near a petrol pump or provide details of the repair schedule.
