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Blackout hits large parts of Mumbai as Tata Power’s unit in Trombay trips

Business districts of Mumbai, with prominent areas such as Zaveri Bazaar facing a blackout till at least 3:30 pm.

The southern part of Mumbai faced widespread power outage on Tuesday after a unit of Tata Power’s Trombay power generating station tripped in early morning.

?This tripping has resulted in load reduction of Parel, Mahalaxmi, Dharavi, Chembur and Grant Road area of Mumbai to control loading on 220 KV Khargar – Nerul ? Sonkar – Trombay tie line. We are working towards an early resolution and will ensure power supply to these areas at the earliest,? Tata Power said in a statement. The 500 MW unit, number 5, is coal-based and in operation since 1984, according to the company’s website.

The areas which faced the blackout are the business districts of Mumbai, with prominent business areas such as Zaveri Bazaar facing a blackout till at least 3:30 pm. Offices of prominent corporates such as Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd were also affected.

?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,? Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, said in a tweet on Tuesday. Mahindra has corporate offices in Worli and Colaba located in south Mumbai.

While it was not the coal crisis which triggered Tuesday’s blackout, India is reeling from an acute shortage of the fuel with the power utilities cutting down on generation. The western and northern grids sent out alerts last week warning regional distribution companies from overdrawing from the grid. The Western Regional Load Despatch Centre (WRLDC) issued a warning late on Aug 27 saying the regional grid was “severely affected”. The loss of generation capacity was estimated at 5,843 MW, mainly attributable to coal scarcity.

Sources said seven power generating stations owned by state-owned Maharashtra State Power Generation, Lanco Infratech, Indiabulls and NTPC were among the ones facing a capacity squeeze.

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First published on: 02-09-2014 at 16:13 IST
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