This year, it might be a dark Diwali for Maharasthra.At a time when the state is already facing at least two to five hours of load-shedding, power units in Chandrapur and Dabhol tripped on Thursday, adding to the crisis. The government's announcement of a hike in power tariffs made the situation all the more grim.
Two 500-MW power units in Chandrapur and one of 340 MW in Dabhol (Ratnagiri) broke down on Thursday, crippling the supply in the state by more than 1,340 MW. Besides a dark Friday, areas in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mulund, Bhandup, Kanjurmarg and Pune are expected to face up to three hours of power cuts on Laxmipujan day on Saturday. The urban areas, including Nagpur, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nashik, Nanded, Akola and Amravati, may also have to go through more than three hours of load-shedding. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), however, claimed that it would be able to meet the Diwali power demand on Saturday as industrial units would stay shut on the weekend as well as Monday and they would not need their daily supply. As a result, the MSEDCL would be able to divert 4,000 MW of the industrial electricity supply to urban and rural areas.
MSEDCL officials even told TOI that they had repaired the units in Dabhol on Friday and added that another 500 MW in Chandrapur will be back late on Friday. They assured that the remaining 500 MW unit in Chandrapur would be back by Saturday morning.
However, a few officials contradicted the claim saying restoring the entire power supply from all the three units in such a short time was a daunting task and the state might have to face a shortage of around 800 MW on Saturday. According to a source, areas in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune, which usually enjoy a special zero-load-shedding model, will face 70% shortage in its additional power demand and will have to face heavy load-shedding on Saturday.
Currently, the total power demand in the state is 14,500 MW, of which 11,100 MW is generated by the state and Centre, while 400 MW is bought from outside the state.