Twitter
Advertisement

Grid failure affects power supply in Maharashtra; has Mumbai sweating

In Mumbai, the stretches from Worli to Mahim, Byculla to Sion, Bandra to Borivli, Kurla to Bhandup, and Vikhroli to Mankhurd were hit by the failure.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

MUMBAI: Western Maharashtra, Konkan, and many parts of Mumbai suffered a power failure on Sunday following a grid failure. The outage partially affected operations at the airport, petrol pumps, hospitals, and the suburban railway network. Although power was restored in Mumbai after four hours, the BMC has announced a 15 to 20 per cent water cut for today.

At 4:30pm, a high tension 400KV Padgha-Nagothane line tripped while being charged, causing the shutdown of power-generating units at Parli, Chandrapur, Karadi, and Nashik. The shutdown aggravated the power shortage across the state, already reeling under load-shedding that lasts for up to 16 hours every day in some areas.

A one-man committee under Shishir Tamotia, director of operations at Mahatransco, the state’s transmission utility, has been appointed to conduct an inquiry. Tamotia will submit his report within three days to the government.

Energy Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said, “Prima facie, it looks like there was a technical snag in the western grid. We have called for a detailed report from a committee, which will study the exact causes for the shutdown.”

In Mumbai, the stretches from Worli to Mahim, Byculla to Sion, Bandra to Borivli, Kurla to Bhandup, and Vikhroli to Mankhurd were hit by the failure. The short supply in the suburbs added to the overloading, thus affecting electricity supply in the island city as well. Power was restored throughout Mumbai by 8.30pm.

Train services along the Western and Central Railway lines were delayed by almost 30 minutes. The Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express was held up for 10 minutes.

At the airport, the electricity went off in two phases, from 4:40pm to 5:15pm and again from 7:05pm to 7:20pm, according to a spokesperson of Mumbai International Airport Limited. The domestic terminals were in total darkness for a few minutes.

Most petrol pumps in the city had stopped functioning. Along the Western Express Highway, only one petrol pump at Goregaon was operational. Emergency operations in city hospitals had to be performed using generators and inverters.  

The severity of the crisis can be gauged from the fact that even south and central Mumbai, which normally never face power shortage, suffered for an hour in the evening. Although the BEST claimed to have restored supply within an hour, residents of several areas in Worli and Mahim complained of lack of power till well past 6pm. A BEST spokesman said, “The power failure was due to under-frequency tripping in Tata Power. But within an hour we could restore power supply to the island city.”

According to Reliance Energy officials, almost 25 lakh consumers in Mumbai’s suburbs were affected by the power failure for over four hours. The problem in Mumbai was compounded because one unit of Tata Power, which generates 500MW, is already out of order. The grid failure affected its second unit, setting off a chain reaction that led to the tripping of the Reliance supply as well.

MSEB spokesman Ram Dotonde said, “The restoration of power supply has already started in phases. In some cases it was restored in a period ranging from two to four hours. But it will take almost 14 hours to bring back normalcy, which means 6am on Monday.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement