Almost 40 per cent of Mumbai including commercial and residential areas went without power through the day after a 500 MW Tata Power unit at Trombay tripped on Tuesday morning.
The incident took place at 9.45 am and impacted south and central Mumbai as well as the western suburbs. Power had not been restored till late evening. “Units are expected to be fully restored and power is expected to be normalized fully by late night today,” said an official statement issued by the Tata Power. The overloading of the state transmission network prevented local electricity distribution companies from importing extra power available elsewhere in India into Mumbai, said the statement.
Industrialist Anand Mahindra expressed his disappointment on Twitter. "Dark office in Mumbai. Lights out in the whole area. The coal crisis is beginning to literally show its dark side. A threat to the India story," tweeted the Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra Group.
"Maharashtra faces 3000 MW power deficit"
Meanwhile Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan blamed the Narendra Modi government for the worsening power crisis in the country. “Maharashtra faces a 3000 MW power shortage and is 60 per cent deficient in coal. After the Supreme Court’s orders on coal blocks there is a shortage of the fuel and the Centre needs to take the lead to resolve the issue,” he said.
He pointed out that private power suppliers were also finding it difficult to honour their commitments. “Some of the state’s plants have had to shut down. Some private plants have stopped supplying power,” said Mr Chavan. He said several other states were facing the same problem.
“I have written a letter to Mr Modi asking him to urgently call a meeting of Chief Ministers to find a solution,” said Mr Chavan. He said that he had recently held a meeting with Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and private power companies but the Centre had not taken any steps beyond that.
