Residents living in Mumbai’s Mahim and Matunga localities were once again left struggling without electricity after a major power disruption affected the area for nearly three hours on Thursday evening, May 7. Localities near Mogul Lane and Sitladevi Temple Road witnessed one of the worst impacts, with electricity supply remaining suspended from approximately 5.15 pm until 8.15 pm, reported Mid Day. The prolonged blackout added to the discomfort caused by soaring temperatures and sticky humidity levels across the city. Frustrated residents said recurring power failures during the ongoing summer season have severely disrupted daily life and made evenings increasingly difficult to manage for families and senior citizens.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), which provides electricity to several older parts of Mumbai, including the island city region, faced criticism from residents over both the outage and the poor handling of complaints. Several consumers alleged that calls made to the BEST fuse control room either remained unanswered or required multiple attempts before any response was received, reported Mid Day. Mahim resident and private tutor Mahalakshmi Ravinarayan told Mid Day that the situation became extremely stressful during the evening peak hours. “Imagine that in peak summer, there was no power supply in Mahim West, Mogul Lane, Sitladevi Temple Road, and nearby areas for three hours. The worst part was that there was hardly any response from the fuse control room,” she said.
Speaking further to Mid Day, Ravinarayan stated that after repeatedly trying to contact officials, she was eventually informed that the disruption may have been triggered by cable damage in the area. She was also told that a fault repair vehicle had already been sent to inspect and restore the supply. Later, BEST officials clarified that the outage occurred because of a feeder supply problem in the Mahim region. Deputy General Manager of Electric Supply, NN Chougule, stated that repair teams were immediately deployed and the electricity issue was resolved on priority. Amid growing criticism over repeated breakdowns and delayed complaint responses, BEST recently announced dedicated ward-level call centres and hired temporary staff to improve response time during the summer.