The electrical fault which left residents of Reservoir Hills without power for 35 hours.
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RESERVOIR Hills residents have voiced anger and frustration after a prolonged electricity outage disrupted Eid celebrations, leaving many Muslim families unable to observe the religious holiday.
The outage, which began on Friday evening, affected several areas including Varsity Drive, Umgudulu Road, Westdale, Westdene, Plumstead, Nathson Close and Dunstaple Crescent.
Power was only restored in the early hours of Sunday morning, a day after Eid.
Sheena Narothan, a resident of Plumstead, described the situation as upsetting for the Muslim community.
“I felt hurt for the Muslim residents of Reservoir Hills. They could not celebrate. They had fasted the month for Ramadaan month,” she said.
Narothan claimed the issue could have been resolved sooner if authorities had acted immediately on the information provided by residents.
“This problem could have been avoided because we informed out councillor where the fault really was. Instead the municipality chose to fix a different problem on the other side of Reservoir Hills. They said the issue was sorted out yet we still had no electricity. They then realised the fault was on Varsity Drive,” she said.
According to Narothan, electricity was only restored two days later, forcing residents to discard spoiled food which was prepared for Eid.
She added that the situation was compounded by a water outage affecting Varsity Drive and Umgudulu Road shortly after power was restored.
“I watched my neighbours throw away their Eid food. Today, we have no water,” she said.
A Muslim resident, who asked not to be named, described the experience as “terrible,” noting that celebrations had to be cancelled due to the outage.
“We were meant to celebrate but we suffered instead. Our Eid celebrations was disrupted and we had to incur more costs and eat at a restaurant. Our families were meant to celebrate at my home but we had to cancel,” he said.
He added that all the prepared food had to be discarded due to spoilage, and residents endured uncomfortable conditions during the hot weather while waiting for power to return.
“Everything we prepared had to go into the bin because the food went bad. It was also extremely hot on Friday. We were hopeful that the electricity would come back at midnight but instead we were left upset and frustrated,” he said.
Another resident, also speaking anonymously, said the outage lasted approximately 35 hours and described the experience as “traumatic.”
“It was a struggle for Eid, especially for our prayers. It was unfair and I felt there was a lack of attempt to help from the municipality.
“We had to make do with the situation because no matter what we said nothing was sorted. All I kept thinking was that this was a test we had to face for our fasting and devotion,” he said.
Chairperson of the Reservoir Hills Ratepayers and Residents Association, Ish Prahladh, confirmed that residents had logged multiple fault reports but saw little immediate resolution.
“Residents logged faults but after numerous calls we were told they were working on a fault in Bardia on Saturday. Still, the lights did not come on. At 2am on Sunday, technicians were finally seen on Varsity Drive replacing breakers. Within about an hour, power was restored,” he said.
Prahladh expressed concern that the issue could have been resolved much earlier.
“That means lights could have been back on by Friday night and our residents could have celebrated Eid at their homes, but they had to go to relatives’ houses. This is not acceptable,” he added.
Ward 23 councillor Alicia Kissoon attributed the outage to infrastructure failure and insufficient maintenance.
“The catastrophic failure of the Bardia Avenue substation, which deactivated 15 substations and left lower Reservoir Hills in darkness, is a stark indictment of the Municipality’s failed maintenance strategy,” she said.
Kissoon further criticised the lack of investment in infrastructure redundancy following the 2022 floods and highlighted staffing shortages within the Electricity Department.
“It is particularly cruel that our Muslim community was forced to mark the sacred celebration of Eid in the dark because of this administrative neglect. Residents pay for service delivery, not excuses,” she said.
She added that she would be calling for an urgent review of staffing protocols and prioritised restoration of key infrastructure to prevent similar incidents in future.
The incident has raised broader concerns among residents about recurring service delivery issues in the area, particularly frequent electricity and water outages.