Speaker Summons BEST GM Over Frequent South Mumbai Power Cuts
State Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has summoned the General Manager of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to a meeting on Wednesday to address the utility's failure to resolve frequent power cuts in South Mumbai.
The directive comes amid growing public outcry over persistent electricity disruptions in the financial capital. Narwekar strongly criticized the utility, describing the power shortage as "regrettable" and stating that BEST had "utterly failed" to resolve the ongoing crisis.
The upcoming meeting, which will be held in the Speaker's chamber, is set to bring together several high-level officials. In addition to the BEST General Manager, the meeting will be attended by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, various energy officials, and city MLAs.
Narwekar issued a stern warning to the utility's leadership regarding accountability. He stated that if the issue of frequent power cuts is not resolved, the BEST General Manager will be summoned to appear directly before the state legislature.
During his critique, the Speaker questioned the utility's preparedness for extreme weather events. He asked whether BEST had failed to plan for climate change and the specific operational challenges caused by high temperatures.
Narwekar also highlighted significant communication failures between the utility and the public. He pointed out that when citizens attempt to contact the BEST call centre to report outages, their calls frequently go unanswered or return an engaged tone. He emphasized that authorities need to establish exactly how long it takes for the utility to resolve citizen complaints.
Providing context to the power crisis, Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal admitted that the area has faced unprecedented environmental strain. Unusually high temperatures recorded during May and June—which she noted were the highest in 57 years—caused a massive surge in electricity consumption.
According to Misal, the intense heat pushed local power demand from 907 MW up to 1,010 MW. This sudden surge in demand has resulted in extensive damage to the city's underground electricity cables. To mitigate the crisis, workers are currently placing temporary overhead cables to replace the damaged underground infrastructure.
