Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 30: Prolonged power outages across South and Central Mumbai dominated proceedings in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, as legislators from both the ruling alliance and the Opposition criticised the government over repeated electricity disruptions lasting between eight and 12 hours.
Responding to the widespread concern, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar directed officials to take immediate corrective measures and convened an emergency meeting with senior representatives of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state government to formulate a long-term solution.
Expressing concern over the recurring blackouts, Narwekar said such frequent power failures damage Mumbai's image as the country's financial and commercial capital. He criticised BEST for not upgrading and reinforcing its electricity distribution network in anticipation of increasing power demand and the impact of rising temperatures linked to climate change.
The Speaker instructed BEST to present a comprehensive roadmap for improving power supply reliability and strengthening its infrastructure. He also sought a detailed report on the technical reasons behind the recent outages, the corrective measures undertaken and the response time of the utility's customer service centres.
Narwekar further called for a meeting at Vidhan Bhawan involving Mumbai's elected representatives, the BEST General Manager, the BMC Commissioner, senior utility officials and state government representatives to prepare a time-bound action plan for resolving the city's power supply issues.
The issue was raised through a Call Attention Motion jointly moved by Congress MLA Amin Patel from Mumbadevi and BJP MLA Captain R. Tamil Selvan from Sion Koliwada.
Speaking during the discussion, Selvan urged the government to implement immediate and effective measures, stating that repeated and unannounced power cuts were causing severe inconvenience and financial losses to residents, commercial establishments and small businesses.
Congress legislator Amin Patel criticised the functioning of BEST's senior management, alleging that top officials remained inaccessible during major power failures and failed to respond to calls from elected representatives.
He also claimed that the utility was facing a severe financial crunch, limiting its ability to modernise the electricity distribution network and replace ageing infrastructure.
Drawing attention to the hardships faced by residents during the ongoing summer season, Patel highlighted delays in identifying and repairing faults in underground power cables. He urged BEST to deploy mobile generator units to provide temporary electricity during emergencies and invest in advanced fault-detection technologies to reduce restoration time.
Patel also cited an incident involving Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh, who was reportedly trapped inside a lift for more than two-and-a-half hours after a sudden power outage, underscoring the seriousness of the situation.
Replying on behalf of the government, Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal acknowledged that an unprecedented rise in electricity demand had resulted in widespread tripping and interruptions in supply.
She assured the House that the government was treating the issue with utmost seriousness and said BEST had already initiated several priority projects aimed at upgrading and modernising Mumbai's power distribution network to prevent similar disruptions in the future.