A technical fault at the Princep Street substation of the CESC caused total power failure in parts of central Kolkata on Tuesday late afternoon.
The power outage started at around 4.07 pm when a switch at the substation developed a snag. Immediately, the power supply to a large part in central Kolkata, including important establishments like Calcutta Medical College and parts of Lalbazar, was totally stopped.
In addition, traffic signals at some important intersections also stopped functioning due to the non-availability of power.
The CESC restored supply in the important establishments from alternative sources within 15 minutes. “Later, our technical team also fixed the snag at the substation,” a CESC official said.
Though the cause of the snag is yet to be ascertained, the CESC has decided to replace the switch. “We have even procured a new switch, but it is yet to be installed due to the opposition from a workers’ union,” the CESC official added.