Mumbai: City face power failure on third consecutive day

For the third day in succession, there was power failure in Mumbai, with Mumbadevi, Bhuleshwar, and Shivaji Park being affected.

The power supply in the said areas was restored at 8.50 pm.

Demand in the city soared to a whopping 3,800MW on Thursday, from the usual 3,200-3,300 MW in summer.

Those parts of Mumbai serviced by the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) experienced outages at different times of the day, chiefly due to technical failures. In the morning, there were 15- to 20-minute disruptions in service in Shivaji Park, Dadar.

Cable and feeder faults resulted in these minor power cuts, sources said. In the evening the power cuts were for longer periods. Power tripped around 6.10pm, affecting Bhuleshwar, Mumbadevi, Marine Lines etc.

Manoj Varade, BEST spokesperson said: “Due to feeder fault in an underground cable, off supply ensued in Mumbadevi from 6pm. Our engineers and technicians were at the site to restore supply.” By around 8pm, except for two feeders, supply had been restored in most of the areas; however, 25 per cent of the supply had yet to be restored. Sources said that they found damaged cables at these locations with metro work underway in the vicinity.

Power expert Ashok Pendse said that the demand for electricity in Mumbai touched 3,800MW on Thursday, owing to the heat and the incidents appeared to be local issues. Mumbaikars pay 25-35 paise per unit as stand-by charges, as assurance for 24x7 electric supply.

On April 27, parts of the island city had faced power cuts, which too, authorities said, were because of local issues and not a continuation of Tuesday’s power outage. Residents of Bhuleshwar, Charni Road and parts of south Mumbai complained that there was no electricity from 4.45am to 5.30am and then again at 7am or so, there was another round of disruption, which according to BEST officials, lasted for 30 minutes. There was a fault in an 11kV power cable line.

By Wednesday evening, yet again there was disruption in electric supply in the BEST area, which extends from Colaba/Cuffe Parade to Sion/Mahim and supplies 10.50 lakh consumers. On Tuesday, several parts of Mumbai witnessed power cuts as there were cable faults in the substations between Khar and Bandra. Several pockets in Mumbai and its adjoining suburbs witnessed power outages. Supply was disrupted in Thane, Mulund, Matunga, Ambarnath, Badlapur, and Dombivli as well, due to tripping in the 400kV substation at Padgha.