Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, May 19: Mumbai’s large-scale road concreting drive has begun affecting electricity restoration work, with BEST officials claiming delays in obtaining road-digging permissions are slowing repairs to underground cable faults across the city.

According to BEST officials, complaints related to power supply disruptions have increased significantly over the past year as repair teams struggle to access underground utility lines buried beneath newly concreted roads.

Officials said every time an underground cable fault occurs, BEST must seek permission from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) before digging roads for repairs, resulting in delays in restoring permanent electricity supply.

“Earlier, roads and footpaths could be opened quickly to repair cables. Now, with road concretisation, permissions are not coming easily,” a senior BEST official said.

Officials claimed that nearly 2,500 complaints remain “technically unattended”, even though temporary electricity supply has been restored in many cases.

BEST said that in the absence of permission for road excavation, faulty cables are isolated and electricity load is diverted through alternate lines or nearby substations to ensure temporary supply to consumers. However, permanent repairs remain pending until road-digging approvals are granted.

The issue is reportedly more severe for low-voltage cable repairs, while BMC has recently begun prioritising permissions for Extra High Voltage (EHV) cable restoration work affecting larger areas.

BEST officials also pointed to the challenge posed by multiple underground utilities sharing limited space beneath Mumbai’s roads.

“The whole of Mumbai’s utilities — around 27 agencies — are beneath the roads. Concreting has created unprecedented problems,” the official said.

South Mumbai has emerged as one of the most vulnerable regions due to ageing underground cable networks, overloaded substations and rising electricity demand.

Officials said areas including Bhendi Bazaar, Kalbadevi, Zaveri Bazaar, Masjid and Bhuleshwar continue to face pressure on the existing infrastructure. Around 3.5 lakh consumers across A, B, C, D and E wards reportedly depend on a single Fuse Control Room network.

BEST sources also cited manpower shortages and increasing power demand as additional reasons for delayed fault rectification.

Meanwhile, activist Godfrey Pimenta criticised the lack of proper utility duct planning during road concretisation works.

He questioned why removable utility ducts were not incorporated into project designs to avoid repeated digging of newly concreted roads for cable repairs.

However, BMC officials denied claims that permissions were being withheld.

“There is no hurdle in granting permissions. Tata, Adani and BEST all approach BMC for road-digging approvals and permissions are given,” a BMC official said.

The civic body added that permissions are granted according to existing road-digging policies and utility repair timelines linked to ongoing road concretisation works.

Officials said nearly 50 per cent of the ongoing replacement work involving Mumbai’s ageing 120-km EHV cable network has been completed so far.