BEST Promises To Fix South Mumbai Power Outages Within Six Months
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has assured the Maharashtra legislature that it will address operational shortcomings causing recurring power outages in South Mumbai within six months. The commitment was made during a high-level meeting on Wednesday, following concerns raised by legislators across party lines.
Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar convened the meeting and warned BEST General Manager Sonia Sethi that a breach-of-privilege motion would be initiated against her if the assurances are not fulfilled within the six-month deadline.
To improve power reliability, BEST officials announced several immediate corrective measures. The undertaking will increase the number of emergency response vehicles in every ward from one to four to ensure complaints are attended to faster.
Additionally, BEST plans to remove damaged cables immediately and replace temporary jumper wires with permanent service cables. The undertaking also pledged to recruit additional staff to address manpower shortages, enabling consumer call centres to function round the clock.
The meeting, held in the speaker's chamber at the state legislature, was attended by legislators including Amin Patel of the Congress, R Tamil Selvan of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Ajay Choudhari of the Shiv Sena (UBT). The previous day, these legislators had raised concerns in the assembly regarding frequent power failures and restoration delays.
During the discussions, Sethi attempted to make a presentation to the speaker and legislators, but they declined. One MLA, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated that they work on the ground and personally approach electrical engineers daily, who sometimes refuse to do repair work because they are overburdened.
Sethi also claimed that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had instructed BEST not to undertake fresh recruitment, causing the manpower shortage. However, Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal refuted this, stating that BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide confirmed BEST is an autonomous undertaking and the civic body does not interfere in its administrative functioning.
