Residents in Airoli expressed their mounting frustration on Wednesday midnight, as they confronted the local MSEB office after enduring a third consecutive day without power for five hours. This simmering discontent erupted into protest, leading to the ransacking of the electricity distribution office in the vicinity. Order was eventually restored by law enforcement officials who intervened to pacify the agitated residents.
With the city's temperature surpassing 40 degrees Celsius, residents of Airoli were left deeply dismayed by recurrent power outages. In response to the ongoing inconvenience, more than 2000 individuals from various sectors congregated outside the MSEB office when electricity was still not restored by 1 am on Wednesday.
Nilesh Bankhele, an activist and resident of Sector 3, expressed dismay at the persistent power cuts lasting over 5 hours each night for the past three days. "There's no predictability to these outages. Virtually every neighborhood is affected," Bankhele remarked, noting the absence of staff at the MSEB office during their visit. There are patients who use oxygen machines at the worst.
Other residents shared similar grievances. Prakash Madhvi, residing in Sector 4, highlighted the hardship of water scarcity due to the inability to fill building overhead tanks during frequent power interruptions. The protest brought traffic on the Thane-Belapur road to a standstill, presenting a challenge for the police in managing the situation. Residents expressed appreciation for police support amidst the ongoing power woes.
“Residents staged a protest outside the MSEB office in Airoli for around two hours. However, the traffic was brought under control by around 2 am,” said an official from the Rabale Traffic unit. The electricity was restored around 3 am. “Due to the rise in temperature, the consumption of power has suddenly increased. This led to frequent shutdowns. We are putting best efforts to address breakdown,” said an official from MSEDCL Mulund.
Apart from Airoli, several areas of Kharghar and Koparkhairane reported similar power outages. Purvi Joshi, a resident of sector 5 in Kharghar informed about power cuts between 9 pm and 10 pm. Even residents of Ulwe faced a similar situation on Tuesday night when there was no power for around one hour at midnight.
M K Madhvi, a former corporator from Airoli said that over the period, the population of the area has increased manifold. But the cables laid by CIDCO around 30 years ago are being used. “There is an urgent need to improve the infrastructure to prevent this kind of situation,” said Madhvi. Meanwhile, there is no respite from scorching heat in Navi Mumbai as the heatwave will persist in the city for the third consecutive day. The maximum temperature is expected to soar up to 37 degrees Celsius in Navi Mumbai.