MSEDCL files police complaint after highway widening cuts power cables on Mumbai-Bengaluru route in Pune

Underground power cables are being repeatedly cut during the widening of the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway between Wakad Bridge and Chandani Chowk in Pune, raising concern over the safety of the city's power infrastructure. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) said three cable-cut incidents occurred on October 16, 17 and 31, disrupting supply and inconveniencing consumers.

MSEDCL alleges that it had repeatedly warned that underground cables should be safely moved before excavation, yet the highway work went on. The company has filed a complaint against the contractor at Bavdhan police station and sought legal action for damage to public property.

Senior MSEDCL officials said cables that come in the way of highway widening and service roads must be shifted through the set procedure. The agency concerned has to obtain an estimate from MSEDCL and its approval, and move construction forward only after completing the necessary work. The officials said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had obtained MSEDCL's approval for work within the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) limits, but no such permission was taken for work within the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits.

The first incident took place on October 16, when the cable of the 22 kV Beverly feeder was damaged during highway work. The next day, October 17, another cable, of the 22 kV Bitwise Nia feeder, was cut near Bitwise Chowk. The third incident was recorded on October 31.

The company said repeated incidents of this kind have made it difficult to provide uninterrupted power in the affected areas. Its estimated loss on repair and restoration work runs to lakhs of rupees. Consumers were inconvenienced by the outages, and the company's revenue was also affected.

MSEDCL warned that building the highway without proper planning for the existing 22 kV high-tension and low-tension underground cables could cause serious problems later. Any fault in these cables could affect power to a large number of consumers in Aundh, Baner and Mahalunge. The company stressed that before any further road construction, the location of existing cables must be identified and the cables safely shifted.

Another major concern for MSEDCL is that underground cables now lying along the roadside could end up under the widened carriageway or be buried under concrete during construction. Finding and repairing faults would then become extremely difficult. If a concrete road had to be dug up to reach a faulty cable, restoration could be delayed and power to lakhs of consumers could be affected. The company said that while building such an important piece of infrastructure as a highway, full arrangements should be made to protect essential services, including the power network, from damage.

The Baner branch office, under MSEDCL's Aundh sub-division, lodged a formal complaint at Bavdhan police station on October 27, 2026. The complaint says construction continued despite earlier warnings to shift the underground cables safely. The company has sought legal action against the contractor concerned to prevent further damage to public property.