A massive power cut brought India's financial capital to a grinding halt. Most parts of Mumbai reported a major power outage this morning (October 12) due to a technical failure.
In a tweet, Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) said power supply had been interrupted due to a failure in incoming supply from Tata Power.
Local train services across all lines — the Western, Central and Harbour lines — were affected. Road traffic was also affected as signals stopped functioning due to the cut. At the Bombay High Court, proceedings were affected briefly due to the power cut. However, trading activities continued as usual on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The power outage, an unusual event in the city, came at a time when many people across critical sectors continue to work from home.
Here are some answers to the questions swirling around the Mumbai power outage:
What caused the power failure?
The disaster control room run by the city civic body said that the electric supply was interrupted due to a failure in incoming electric supply from Tata Power.
Later, Tata Power, in a statement, said that at 10.10 am there was simultaneous tripping at state-owned MSETCL’s Kalwa and Kharghar substations, causing a huge dip in frequency in the Mumbai transmission system, which led to the tripping of Mumbai’s power supply.
“Restoration work is in progress to bring supply from the 3 Hydro units and Trombay units once the MSETCL (Maharashtra state electric transmission company) transmission lines are connected,” the Tata Power statement said.
What is the status of local trains?
The Suburban, Western and Central local train services, currently operating only for essential workers, were affected from 10.05 am onwards. Central Railway said power supply was restored at 12.26 pm on its main line. It also rescheduled five long-distance trains.
On the Western line, services between Churchgate and Borivali were suspended due to the power cut. All services were restored at 12.20 pm, Western Railway said on Twitter.
When will the electricity be restored across the city?
At 11.35 am, Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut said power supply in Mumbai and Thane would be restored in an hour or so. Taking to Twitter, Raut said the Kalwa-Padgha transmission line had tripped, leading to power outages in Thane, Palghar and Navi Mumbai.
In a subsequent update, at 1.01 pm, Tata Power said that it has “progressively started restoring supply to all its customers starting from 12 noon (sic) and has restored supply fully.”
Which parts of Mumbai were affected?
Nearly all of Mumbai and its neighbouring areas were affected. South Mumbai, Worli, Dadar, Panvel, Thane and Kalina were among those affected.
What is the BMC’s helpline number?
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) set up helpline numbers for residents of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. “Due to power supply failure in Mumbai region, residents of Mumbai are requested to call on 022-22694727, 022-226947725 and 022-22704403 in case of emergencies,” tweeted the municipal body.
Were hospitals in Mumbai affected by the power cut?
Some reports of hospitals suffering due to the outage emerged. Several reports indicated that some hospitals had cancelled minor surgeries to avoid unnecessary complications during the procedures.
Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal asked all hospitals to keep diesel generator sets ready in case the power outage lasted more than two hours.
Chahal asked hospitals to contact their transport garage officers to get enough diesel to operate generators for at least eight hours so that there was no disruption in power supply, especially in ICUs.
Mumbai hospitals were also told to update their respective control room heads about the situation every 30 minutes.
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