Technical glitch at Tata Power unit blacks out parts of Mumbai

A sudden power cut hit large parts of Mumbai today with several areas in the city and suburbs experiencing temporary blackouts and rotational load-shedding, following the tripping of Tata Power's 500 MW Trombay Power Station Unit No 5 at around 9.45 am.

"This tripping has resulted in load reduction in (some) areas. We are working towards an early resolution and will ensure power supply at the earliest," a Tata Power official said.

The areas affected include business districts of Bandra, Andheri-Saki Naka, Kurla, Parel, Mahalaxmi, and the residential areas of Juhu, Dharavi, Chembur and Grant Road in Mumbai, Santacruz, Ghatkopar, Tilak Nagar and Vikhroli.

Reliance Energy, which supplies power to Mumbai suburbs, informed consumers through social media network that it is in constant touch with Tata Power to ensure early restoration of normalcy.

The BEST, which supplies power to southern Mumbai, said Tata Power cut off supply to various feeder units following a tripping at its power unit, which resulted in load-shedding.

As soon as Tata Power restores supply, the feeders will be switched on to ensure normal supply, BEST officials added.

Tata Power has not indicated when normalcy would be restored though it assured it was "working towards an early resolution and will ensure power supply to these areas at the earliest".

The nearly 17 million population of Mumbai gets its normal power supply through Reliance Energy, Tata Power and BEST.

Tata Power said it had to shut off power supply to Mumbai, at around 9:45 am, after a technical fault hit one of its units, forcing it to switch off power to some areas of the city, including some business districts.

Banks and brokerages in the financial capital were largely unaffected as most of them were running on back-up generators.

TPC did not say what caused the fault at the power station but said that it was working to get supplies back on by the end of the day.

The company, however, said overloading of the state transmission network is preventing local electricity distribution companies from importing extra power available elsewhere in India into Mumbai.

Mumbai has so far managed to avoid power outages that regularly affect most parts of India

The city largely gets power supplies from coal fired thermal power stations and looming severe coal shortage has raised the spectre of more widespread blackouts.

"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 industrialist Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group.

As of now, half of India's thermal power stations have less than a week's supply of coal on hand, the lowest level since the blackout caused by coal shortage hit 620 million people in 22 states across the country in mid-2012.

The country does not generate enough electricity to meet rapidly rising demand. A severe shortage of coal, which fuels two-thirds of its power generating units, has raised fears of more widespread blackouts - any grid collapse would cast doubt on the ability of the Narendra Modi government to ensure 24-hour power supplies, a promise that has helped him win the 2014 general election victory in May.