The MERC has directed power distribution utilities to prepare a time-bound detailed action plan to prevent a repeat of July 26, 2005.
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has directed power distribution utilities to prepare a time-bound detailed action plan to prevent a repeat of the power disruption that the city witnessed on July 26, 2005.
Post-deluge, the Commission had asked the distribution utilities—Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, Tata Power Company, Reliance Energy Limited and BEST—to give reasons for the widespread disruption of power supply, the areas affected, the number of consumers involved and the steps taken to restore supply.
After receiving the feedback, the Commission said the major reasons for the disruption of power supply was underground cable faults, collapse of towers, submergence of distribution transformers, switchgear and other power system hardware.
The Commission in its report stated that the main reason for the delay in restoration of power was difficulty in accessing faulty underground cables due to road works undertaken by MMRDA and BMC. Also due to the water logging, it was difficult to transport material for long periods.
The Commission has also directed the utilities to prepare a report in case of grid failure, which should be submitted to the MERC within 24 hours followed by a detailed report of the root cause, analysis and steps taken by the utility to avoid recurrence of such failure.
However, in the absence of regular drills and rehearsals, the implementation of such plans cannot be taken for granted. The Commission also noted that after taking some short-term measures, no long-term measures such as safeguarding all electrical installations in low-lying areas or providing safe corridors for cables have been planned and initiated.
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