CYCLONE LEAVES OVER 15L ACROSS MMR ‘POWERLESS’
Power outage for 48 hrs in Vasai, Virar, Kalyan, Dombivali, Badlapur, Asangaon, Titwala, Thane and Navi Mumbai
Two days after Cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc across Maharashtra, lakhs of people still do not have electricity in many parts of Mumbai, especially its metropolitan region. Several areas in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) faced power outages for more than 24-36 hours. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) received 45 lakh plus complaints across the state of which there were more than 15 lakh consumers in MMR who were affected by power outages.
People staying in MMR especially in areas like Vasai, Virar, Kalyan, Dombivali, Badlapur, Asangaon, Titwala, Thane and Navi Mumbai have faced terrible 48 hours as they experienced power outages for hours together. “There was no electricity for more than 24 hours and it had become difficult to contact as mobile batteries had also died,” said D Avlani, a resident of Vasai.
This was the case in other areas as well since the day Cyclone Tauktae hit the city. “There has been no electricity for almost 48 hours now,” said another resident of Naigaon. The MSEDCL has its network on ground and the cyclone not just flooded the roads but also snapped power cables, uprooted electric boxes and led to failures in transformers and substations leading to massive power outages.
There was damage to 188 substations, 1095 feeders and 2600 electric poles from this cyclone. “As our network is over-ground the damage was severe due to the cyclone. Covid-19 pandemic has also prevented us from administering large amounts of manpower for the restoration work. Finding faults and restoring them was also taking time as we had to rectify major technical failures,” said an official from MSEDCL.
A broader segregation of technical failures in MMR explained by MSEDCL officials shows that as on Tuesday, the two Circles of Kalyan covering areas of Kalyan, Dombivali, Badlapur, Titwala and few other areas on KalyanKasara/Karjat caused disruption to 9.10 lakh consumers. The MSEDCL has restored electricity for 5.10 lakh consumers which is expected to go up by the end of Wednesday.
Ansel Baretto, a resident of Naigaon west, said, "We have been surviving without electricity since the last 54 hours. Our phone batteries have died, inverters have given up, even regular mobile network is not available so we are unable to access the internet and work from home."
While, Shravani Vaidya, a resident of Vasai west, "I have been literally walking for 20 minutes till the main road because that's the only spot where regular mobile network and internet connection is available. intervals. I am using a power bank to charge my phone."