BEST begins replacing cables to end SoBo power woes

Trenching work began on Monday, to lay ultra-high-pressure cables that will replace old ones. The new lines will run underneath the railway tracks. “These will be 3-4-km-long. with a capacity to carry 33,000 volts (33kv),” said a BEST official

MUMBAI: Following a series of power outages in several residential neighbourhoods in South Mumbai earlier this month, the BEST undertaking is attempting to resolve the issue by replacing electricity cables between Churchgate and Marine Lines.

Workers replacing old BEST cables at F Road in Churchgate (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Trenching work began on Monday, to lay ultra-high-pressure cables that will replace old ones. The new lines will run underneath the railway tracks. “These will be 3-4-km-long. with a capacity to carry 33,000 volts (33kv),” said a BEST official.

Power outages lasting up to 10-12 hours were experienced in the densely populated neighbourhoods of Girgaum, Bhuleshwar, Opera House, Thakurdwar, Kalbadevi, among others, prompting frustrated residents to storm a local BEST office on two occasions. Local Shiv Sena leaders are backing residents, who together met BEST officials and demanded answers to the crisis.

BEST officials said the new power lines are being laid 10-15 feet underground, the deepest stretch passing below the railway tracks at Marine Lines station. Standard utility cables are embedded 6 to 8 feet below the surface.

“We have sought permission from the Western Railway and expect the work to be completed this week. It will benefit 20,000-25,000 consumers, who were experiencing power outages,” a BEST engineer said.

On the recent power disruptions, he said that in two separate instances, underground power cables experienced faults. When problems with the first cable were detected, the load was shifted to the next substation. However, the cables here too couldn’t take the load, triggering a massive outage that impacted around 50,000 consumers, he said.

“We couldn’t identify the problem with the cables from the first fault as they were below the railway tracks,” said a BEST official. “The only way out was to remove and replace them.”

The BEST commissioned a back-up cable to temporarily restore electricity but power lines here are around 40 years old and authorities recognised the need for a permanent solution.

BEST sources said severe manpower shortages have aggravated electricity distribution and supply, leaving the field labour force depleted by 50-70%, even as cable-related complaints jumped to 7,500 in 2025.

The BEST recently announced that ₹20 crore has been sanctioned for a Girgaon and Malabar Hill power modernisation project, as part of a comprehensive upgrade to South Mumbai’s ageing energy infrastructure.