Residents sweat it out in blackout

A sudden technical error in the Kalwa substation of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) led to power cuts in parts of Thane, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai on Thursday night.

The power cuts may last until Saturday, MSEDCL has said. Increased demand for electricity caused a load on the system, claimed officials; to repair this technical fault, supply will be shut down in some areas, they said.

The 400 and 200 KV substation in Kalwa supplies power to Naupada, Kopri, Vitawa and Kalwa areas of Thane and Mulund in Mumbai; it also caters to Vashi, Ghansoli, Rabale, Thane-Belapur industrial belt, Turbhe MIDC, Koparkhairane and Bonkode nodes of Navi Mumbai.

Thousands of consumers had to suffer due to the sudden power cut on Thursday night. Several residents of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mulund took to the streets as it was too hot to stay indoors. Some of them took to Facebook Live to express their ire.

“We used social media to show how we were suffering due to this sudden power cut; and MSEDCL officials didn’t even bother to tell us about the problem, when asked,” said Rahul Shelar, a Naupada resident.

Meanwhile, the department claims that repair work is in progress and that normal supply will be restored only after Saturday, as per a MSEDCL press release.

“There is more demand for electricity than we can supply. To maintain a balance between demand and supply, we have to shut down supply for some time. We appeal to people to use electricity responsibly,” said PRO, MSEDCL, Bhandup Zone.