Sweating in the dark: Mumbai battles long power cuts amid rising heat

Representation pic/istock

Severe power outages across several parts of Mumbai over the past week have left residents battling sweltering heat, stalled lifts, and sleepless nights, even as authorities blamed ageing infrastructure, rising air-conditioner usage and delays in cable repair work caused by road concretisation projects.

Areas such as Dadar, Mahim, Matunga, Wadala, Worli, Prabhadevi, Kandivali, Goregaon, Powai, Marol, and Vile Parle reported outages lasting anywhere between 30 minutes and nearly 10 hours. In several buildings, elevators stopped functioning, forcing residents, especially senior citizens, to remain stranded indoors or climb multiple floors in humid conditions.

The outages came as Mumbai continued to experience hot and humid weather conditions, with humidity levels hovering between 64 per cent and 70 per cent.

Areas hit by outages

Reported power cuts this week
>> Matunga, Dadar Parsi Colony and Naigaon: 8 pm Friday to nearly 6 am Saturday
>> Dadar, Wadala: Evening outages tied to transformer fire
>> Worli and Prabhadevi: 3-4 hour outages after transformer blast last week
>> Kandivali and Goregaon: Friday night outages
>> Parts of Vile Parle: Overnight disruptions reported
>> Marol: Saturday and Sunday

Why are repairs taking longer

>> Cable replacement permissions delayed due to road concretisation
>> Multiple outages across areas at the same time
>> Repair response time increased by one to 1.5 hours
>> Damaged cables harder to access under newly concretised roads

Growing trend: Backup power at home

>> Installing battery-operated backup systems
>> Exploring diesel generators
>> Adding inverter systems for lifts and fans
>> Seeking society-level emergency power backup

Power demand vs infrastructure stress

Summer peak demand Electricity load
Last year 960 MW
This year 946 MW
Despite slightly lower peak demand this year, officials said smaller cables are getting damaged faster.

Why?
Officials suspect a sharp increase in household air-conditioner usage without corresponding network upgrades. "Homes have installed multiple air-conditioning units working around the clock. We are not prepared for this added load," a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport official told mid-day

Main reasons cited

>> Smaller underground cables are unable to handle the increased load
>> Rising use of multiple air-conditioners in homes
>> Delay in obtaining BMC permissions to dig newly concretised roads
>> Multiple simultaneous complaints
>> Shortage of manpower

Residents speak

Sandeep Chavan, Worli resident

‘Not everyone can afford to install power generators. I live on the eighth floor of an old MHADA building. While we have several lifts, there is no power backup. We did not have electricity for 30 minutes on Friday, and several residents had to sit outside the building. Many were worried about how they would climb the stairs and reach their homes if the power did not return soon. Fortunately, we got lucky'

The owner of a dairy shop in Dadar

‘All my merchandise got spoiled due to the overnight power outage. I had paneer, lassi, milk, and kulfi stored in the refrigerator. I heard another dairy nearby borrowed a diesel generator overnight to save their goods, but I could not afford that. I lost up to R10,000 worth of goods because they went bad. I managed to take some products home and save them'

A resident of a housing society in Wadala

‘Fortunately, our society has a power backup, so we could use the lift. But we had to keep all the doors and windows open on Friday night, hoping for a cool breeze and some respite from the heat'

Sharon D'Souza, Mahim resident

‘My mother has hypertension issues. I got concerned when she was sweating on Friday, and spending the night in the heat was a nightmare. I have now installed a power backup at home. It takes about eight hours to recharge and can run ceiling fans and the refrigerator for up to 12 hours'

What power authorities said

Electricity supply in Mumbai is divided between multiple providers:

Area Supplier
Colaba to Sion, Matunga BEST
Mumbai suburbs Tata Power and Adani Electricity
A senior Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport official said the city's power infrastructure is struggling to cope with sudden load spikes.