Mumbai: Several areas in Mumbai’s suburbs and island city, including Kandivli, Andheri, Powai, Matunga, and Dadar, experienced power outages lasting up to nine hours from Friday to Saturday. Many residents expressed frustration over the lack of communication from service providers regarding the cause or expected restoration time.
Recurring Blackouts Strain Residents
These disruptions are the latest in a series of sudden blackouts affecting parts of the city this month, with outages ranging from three to twelve hours in areas served by BEST, Adani Electricity, and Tata Power. Peak power demand has remained high between 4,300 MW and 4,400 MW, highlighting the strain on Mumbai’s distribution network. While no official cause was given for the overnight cuts, utilities have previously attributed such incidents to cable faults, feeder failures, transformer tripping, and high consumption during peak hours.
Longest Disruption in Matunga East
Parts of Matunga East, particularly around the BEST substation and Napoo Hall, faced the longest outage from 8:30 p.m. Friday to 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Technical teams worked to restore supply, but residents endured a sleepless night in muggy weather. High-rise dwellers were especially affected as lifts became inoperable.
A local resident suggested that BEST should implement an announcement system to inform residents about the cause of disruptions and repair timelines. The BEST substation serving residential flats reportedly had power supply, but BEST officials were unavailable for comment.
Other Affected Areas
Dadar Parsi Colony experienced a 7.5-hour power cut. Girgaum and Wadala were affected on Friday, while parts of Dadar West remained without power overnight. A Parsi Colony resident speculated whether the outage was due to sudden overnight digging of footpaths for cable laying. Last week, some buildings in Dadar faced intermittent cuts lasting over 12 hours.
In Kandivli West, a resident of Gokhale Road reported nightly 30-minute power cuts throughout the week, culminating in a longer disruption from 11 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.
Officials Highlight Response Gaps
MLA Amin Patel stated that recurring outages expose gaps in response capacity. “Nearly 1,000 faults requiring permanent repairs are pending in south Mumbai alone,” Patel said after meeting BEST management. “BEST officials acknowledged they are short-staffed, and it’s a real mess handling power cut issues. In many cases, it takes hours for power supply to be restored.” He noted that the few available teams are stretched thin managing daily complaints.
Restoration Times and Complaints
Sources indicated that restoration times have increased to 3-5 hours in several cases. Recently, complaints of power cuts have also come from Antop Hill and Vile Parle East and West.
Former BEST panel member Ravi Raja called the undertaking’s customer call centre an “eyewash”. Committee member Nitin Nandgaonkar said consumers often fail to reach officials during power cuts, leading to frustration and arguments, and called for a 24x7 call centre with six phone lines.
