Residents and manufacturing units across Gurugram were plunged into prolonged power disruptions on Wednesday as electricity department employees and contract workers launched a statewide strike, severely crippling utility maintenance and breakdown response mechanisms across Haryana.

From high-rise residential societies along the Dwarka Expressway and Golf Course Extension Road to sprawling industrial belts in Udyog Vihar and Manesar, unscheduled cuts lasting several hours forced reliance on expensive diesel generator backups.

Industrial Belts Bear the Brunt

The flash strike triggered immediate operational friction across manufacturing corridors. Industrial associations in Manesar and Udyog Vihar reported intermittent tripping on primary transmission feeders, forcing factory operators to switch to auxiliary generators to prevent machinery shutdowns.

"Manufacturing units run on tight delivery schedules. Sudden feeder trips without maintenance crews available to resolve local faults cause significant monetary and material losses," said an industrial representative from the Manesar industrial corridor. Industrialists urged state authorities to invoke essential services regulations to prevent further economic disruption.

Residential Sectors Face Crippling Breakdowns

Across older sectors as well as newly developed residential clusters, local transformer glitches and line faults went unaddressed for hours due to the absence of field linemen and technical staff.

Key areas severely impacted include:

* Old Gurugram: Local feeder trips left several neighborhoods without supply through peak afternoon hours. * Newer Sectors (58–67 & 81–95): Condominiums reported rapid depletion of fuel reserves as captive DG sets ran continuously. * Suburban Townships: Peripheral colonies faced prolonged downtime due to unattended localized cable failures.

Union Demands and Discom Response

The strike was called by joint employee unions representing workers across state distribution companies, including Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN). Among their core demands are:

* Halting proposed privatization and outsourcing of distribution operations. * Regularization of contractual field staff and technicians. * Filling vacant technical posts across sub-stations and control rooms. * Rollback of contentious policy reforms affecting employee benefits.

Senior administrative and discom officials indicated that contingency teams and supervisory engineers have been deployed to oversee critical sub-stations. Authorities maintained that alternate arrangements are being expedited to minimize disruptions to essential services, including hospitals, water supply pumping stations, and key government installations.