Mumbai's Aarey residents spend nine days without power after monsoon damage

A damaged electricity distribution box at Unit 1, Aarey Milk Colony. Residents allege poor maintenance of power infrastructure contributed to the prolonged outage

Residents of Unit 1 in Aarey Milk Colony have spent nine days without electricity after heavy rain and strong winds toppled power poles and damaged a transformer on July 4. When mid-day visited the area on Sunday, repair work on the decades-old transformer was underway.

Residents said they were unsure whether the ageing infrastructure would even function after repairs. The prolonged outage has forced families to live in darkness or hire diesel generators, while cattle farm owners say their operating costs have shot up.

A diesel generator rented by residents of Unit 1, Aarey Milk Colony, to provide temporary electricity after the area remained without power for nine days. PICS/SARTHAK MEHTA

Residents claim electricity expenses have risen ninefold, while cattle farm operators say their power bills have risen 3.5 times.

Officials promise relief

Aarey Milk Colony CEO Shrikant Shipurkar said immediate repairs are in progress but admitted the existing infrastructure requires complete renewal.

"The repair work is underway. However, the area requires major infrastructure renewal costing around Rs 9.98 lakh, for which approval has been sought. We have also approached Adani Electricity to assess supplying power to this area."

Workers carry out repairs on the damaged electricity infrastructure at Unit 1, Aarey Milk Colony, where residents have been without power since July 4

Shipurkar denied residents' allegations that officials demanded money to expedite repairs, saying no such complaint had reached him.

Residents' civic complaints beyond the blackout

>> Poor maintenance of electricity infrastructure
>> Broken fuse boxes posing safety risks
>> Overhead power lines in poor condition
>> Irregular water supply
>> Defunct water pipelines repaired by residents
>> Tree pruning allegedly not carried out before the monsoon

‘Hours turned into days'

Farooq Salema, 42,
‘We were told to wait for a few hours. Hours turned into days. After three days, we ourselves discovered that the transformer and poles had collapsed after a tree fell. We have followed up at least 10 times. Repair work has finally started, but it is moving very slowly'

Arif Kadiwala, 43,
‘Most of Aarey now receives Adani Electricity, but a few units like ours have been left out. Officials should allow Adani to set up the required substation so this problem can be solved permanently'

Families bear the brunt

Khushbu Gupta, 29,
‘My son has suffered repeated mosquito bites, and I also fell ill. We cannot afford generator electricity, so we live in complete darkness. We even depend on neighbours to charge our phones'

Mohsin Shaikh, Police constable
‘It costs around Rs 750 every day, compared to my normal monthly electricity bill of Rs 2500. Electricity is a basic necessity, especially in Aarey, where wild animals often move around after dark'

Dairy farms hit

Owaish Arif Salema, Cattle farm operator
‘Our daily electricity cost has gone up from Rs 500 to Rs 1800. We have hired extra labour because we cannot run enough electric milk pumps, and cleaning has reduced because water pumps cannot be used as frequently'

Rising costs

What residents say they are paying
Before outage Now
Household electricity Up to nine times higher
Cattle farm electricity Rs 500/day 10 pt1800/day
Generator cost per home Around Rs 750/day
Additional labour Rs 2000/day (selected cattle farms)

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