Power outages plague older, congested parts of South Mumbai
In less than a week, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) has received over 350 complaints of power cuts from its consumers
MUMBAI: For the last five days, Dongri resident Aslam Malkani has been ordering mineral water on and off. It’s not because of a water supply issue; it’s the erratic power outages in parts of the island city that occasionally render his water purifier unusable and force him to spend on bottled water.
Malkani, a resident of Ellam Mansion, said that drinking water availability had been badly affected by intermittent power cuts and a massive 14-hour power cut on June 12-June 13. “Due to this power cut, we could not use the purifier to store and filter the tap water,” he said. “We ordered 12 litres of bottled water. Since then, I have ordered drinking water at least thrice.”
In less than a week, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) has received over 350 complaints of power cuts from its consumers in Bhuleshwar, Kalbadevi, Dongri, Pydhonie, Mazgaon, Bhendi Bazaar, Mohammad Ali Road, Nagpada and other old parts of South Mumbai. Local MLA Amin Patel said these power outages ranged from four hours to as many as 36 hours, affecting at least 23 locations.
“The BEST undertaking isn’t taking the issue seriously,” said Malkani. “Initially, there were two-hour power cuts, which then extended to five hours. Recently, there was no supply for 14 hours. We hope the issue is resolved before Eid.”
On June 10, residents of Ellam Mansion also wrote a letter to BEST, pointing out that since June 1 they had been facing power cuts for a minimum of three hours, which coincided with the time water came to their taps. “We have been facing power outages for the past four to five days,” said Nagpada resident Irfan Shaikh. “It is affecting my business. With no political representatives, there is no one to hear our grouses.”
BEST has attributed the power outages to the spike in electricity demand in these areas, coupled with the onset of the rains, which resulted in water and moisture seeping into the underground cables. Sources said that around 20-25% of the island city’s load stemmed from old congested parts of South Mumbai, which have both residential buildings and commercial businesses.
BEST officials said that around four to five locations in South Mumbai had receiving stations which distribute electricity through substations. There are around 18 transformers at various locations, which too is insufficient. The authorities said there was a need to augment the infrastructure.
“These are congested locations where demand has risen substantially,” explained another BEST official. “Unless there is redevelopment, there is little scope to install more substations. At present the locals don’t give space that easily to augment infrastructure. In the meanwhile, wherever we discover problems in old cables leading to housing societies, we change them to larger 70 sq mm ones to augment carrying capacity.”
Simultaneously BEST has also begun work on replacing old cables across the city. It has already replaced 80% of 33kV cables connecting receiving stations, while 30% of cables connecting with substations have been completed. The Undertaking has also replaced 30% of its 10.50 lakh consumers’ electronic meters with smart meters. It has also started nine different helpline numbers for the island city between Colaba and Sion/Mahim.
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HEAD: Power supply of defaulting slum consumers cut
Adani Electricity Mumbai has disconnected the power supply of 100 defaulting consumers from Siddharth Colony, a slum pocket in Chembur. There are around 3,500 users here who, over the years, owe the power company nearly ₹114 crore. Adani Electricity said that around 70% of the users had now begun to gradually pay their monthly dues.
Many of these defaulting households have high consumption levels, and the slum pocket as a whole has multiple air conditioners, television sets and other appliances. In 2019, a mass disconnection drive and vigilance raids against electricity theft were carried out in the colony.