BEST's Rs 6K cr plan to refurbish age-old network

Parts of south Mumbai witnessed power disruption once again on Friday. Officials said the only permanent solution to the problem of persistent power failures is to replace the old wornout power supply cables spread underground. It would be a very expensive exercise, though. While Mumbai's power demand has been galloping at 3800MW and more, that of the island city is crossing 900-950MW.

This exercise of replacing the power distribution cables will come at a cost as BEST officials claim that they haven't made capital expenditure to improve the assets of their supply division for a long time. This includes replacing the old underground cables that were laid 70-80 years ago, with new ones at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore.

“On Friday, the ruptured cables again developed technical snags which led to disruption in power at some places. We are starting the process of replacing the old cables for which we will approach the Centre as well as there is a scheme for funding this project,” said a BEST official.

The old cables are getting ruptured as they are unable to bear the load owing to the

rising heat. This is the reason the problem area is getting exposed again and again for the past few days. Sources said that as the cables have become old, they are finding it difficult to repair it. “By next month we expect to begin the initial process and paperwork for replacing the old cables with new ones,” said another official from the Undertaking.

The BEST has chalked out a five-year plan which will require a massive fillip of Rs 6,000 crore investment for upgrading the decade-old power supply network. This includes restructuring of a 1,000-km underground cable network. This work will be carried out across the 800km Cuffe Parade-ColabaSion/Mahim stretch.

They will also be laying new cable lines in the 200km range within the island city, mainly to cater to the growth centres. Both these upgrades are part of the overall plan to augment and strengthen the city's power infrastructure for the coming years.

The BEST will also set up 200 new substations, besides going for automation of the entire chain of power network's working, developing smart grids, upgrading SCADA system and over modernisation that is expected to take the cost to Rs 6,000 crore. For capital expenditure, there is a provision for funding from the Centre wherein they could get 60 per cent subsidy on the total cost.