Western suburbs plunged in darkness for 6-odd hours

The blackout continued till the time of going to press and officials said the fault was expected to be rectified by midnight.

Sources within the power sector said that the first line tripped at 5.30 pm and the second at 6.30 pm, interrupting power supply at many locations. The two lines are under the care of Tata Power, which also supplies power to Reliance Infrastructure. As such, the latter's consumers were also affected.

A shortfall of 80 MW was recorded after the tripping of the first line, which resulted in additional strain on the second. Officials from Tata Power said that there were technical faults in both the supply lines.

Sources said the power cables are very old and the smallest strain can lead to their tripping. They added that initially there were problems in pinpointing the exact location of the fault.

By evening, locals claimed, there were power cuts across many areas in the suburbs. Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure carried out rotational load-shedding of 30 minutes each in different areas to manage the load.

3 L
No of consumers Tata Power caters to in the western and eastern suburbs

Tata Power says
An official from Tata Power said, "Salsette-Borivli line number 1 and 2, each of 220 KV, have tripped due to a fault. For controlling load on MSETCL Borivli lines, rotational load shedding is being carried out in Borivli and Malad area by Tata Power and Reliance." u00a0