Mumbai power outage: Jams across the city after 700 traffic signals stop working

According to the traffic police, the signals and CCTV cameras stopped working due to the power cut, which made manning traffic difficult

Commuters faced a hard time travelling by road in Mumbai on Monday as the 700 traffic signals across the city stopped functioning due to a power outage.

The control room officers stated that although there were no traffic jams reported, vehicles moved at a snail’s pace, especially on the Western Expressway 8am onwards. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

According to the traffic police, the signals and CCTV cameras stopped working due to the power cut, which made manning traffic difficult. The control room officers stated that although there were no traffic jams reported, vehicles moved at a snail’s pace, especially on the Western Expressway 8am onwards. Many commuters expressed their anger on Twitter about traffic problems from Dahisar toll booth towards Santacruz.

“As the CCTV cameras are also not functioning, we had to communicate and take updates over the phone,’ said a traffic police officer posted in the control room, who requested anonymity.

Pravin Padwal, additional commissioner of police (Traffic), said that the entire force was deployed to control traffic manually.

“Our officers are managing traffic manually and there has not been any major traffic jam,” said Padwal.

However, by 11.40am, a few of the signals had resumed, including the ones at BKC.

“Traffic signals at BKC have started working and slowly the signals at other places will also start,” said a traffic police officer.