Mumbai: Thane, Navi Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra face the grim prospect of facing more electricity shortages due to the unplanned closure of two power plants at Chandrapur and Bhusaval.

The power plant at Chandrapur supplied 600 MW of electricity, while the plant at Bhusaval pumped in 150 MW.

Apart from these, the Dhabol power plant is already non-functional, resulting in a shortage of 300 MW. It was expected that the recent rainfall would have helped reduce power cuts by approximately an hour, but lack of electricity supply has retained the shortfall at 4,500 MW, instead of bringing it down.

Rahul Asthana, secretary (Power), Government of Maharashtra, said, "The coal used at
the Chandrapur and Bhusaval thermal power plants has got wet in the rains and this has affected generation of electricity here. We are taking steps to restart them soon."

The state government and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) will have a joint meeting with people from the Centre today to discuss ways to improve power supply from the Dhabol power plant.

"The plant is facing several technical and maintenance problems and we will discuss these issues with the ministry at the Centre," said Ajay Pande, MD, MSEDCL.

Black out

Load shedding hours at Thane and Navi Mumbai -  5 to 6 hours

Demand – 12,500 Mw
Supply – 8,500 Mw
Deficit – 4,000 Mw