Even as the monsoon made a delayed arrival in the city, residents in Nalasopara on Tuesday staged a rail and rasta roko to protest the hours-long power cuts since Sunday and alleged negligence by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). However, tight police bandobast prevented the situation from getting out of hand.
Amin Sayed, a resident of the area, said there had been power cuts since Sunday night in the Bohri Colony area in Achole Road, Nalla Sopara east.
The first power cut began on Sunday evening and power was restored only on Monday morning at around 0800 hours, he said. As a result, many residents, including students and working professionals had to face problems, he said.
“On Monday night at around 2200 hours, there was another power cut and this lasted for hours and power returned at around 1100 hours Tuesday morning,” said Nazia Sayed, Mr Sayed’s wife. “It is women who face the most hardships as we have to prepare kids for school and also prepare for the Ramzan fasting period,” she said.
Dhananjay Gawde, a corporator from the area, said the MSEB is to be blamed for the mess. “At various places there are no safety boxes to cover the transformers and due to this there is power breakdown,” said Mr Gawde. Further, the MSEB does not give any concession in the bill payments even for a day, he said.
The road blockage was first reported at Bohri Colony area on Tuesday morning but the police dispersed the mob. The protestors later attempted to stage a train roko but the timely presence of a strong police force at Nallasopara railhead prevented the situation from getting out of hand.
Ajay Kamble, assistant engineer, MSEB Nallasopara confirmed there had been power cuts. “Since Sunday we had sustained two major faults in the main line and it took time for our linesmen to repair the faults and power was delayed,” he said.
