Mumbai: Fire in underground BEST cable leaves hundreds without power

Fire Brigade personnel douse the fire in an underground cable at Parel on Monday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

A fire in an underground cable near a petrol pump in Parel on Monday left hundreds of houses in the vicinity without electricity for hours. The fire was doused within half an hour and there were no casualties.

The incident took place near a petrol pump on B A Road, opposite F South ward office, around 1 pm when smoke and fire were seen coming out of the ground. A fire brigade team reached the spot along with staffers from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, BEST and Mahanagar Gas Ltd. Though a major tragedy was averted as the fire was near a petrol pump, electricity and gas supply were hit.

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"There are cables of BEST, MGL, etc. in the same duct. Initially, we suspected the fire was confined to a gas pipeline, but after preliminary investigation we found it was on a BEST cable and the gas pipeline was intact. However, as a precaution we asked to cut the supply of both lines," said Rajendra Chaudhari, a senior fire brigade official.

The electricity supply was cut around 1 pm and restored in the evening. "The electricity supply of the surrounding area was cut off. Preparation for the Ganesh festival is going on in the vicinity. When I asked the authorities they said supply would be restored soon," said Shraddha Jadhav, former corporator.

"Due to the fire, two transformers were switched off. After the fire was doused, power was partially restored at 3.15 pm. We are repairing the faults, which will take another hour," said BEST spokesperson around 8 pm.

One building also faced disruption in gas supply as the connection was cut as a precautionary measure. "There wasn't any damage to the gas pipeline, but after the fire brigade instruction, we cut the gas supply to Swapnapurti building. We restored the supply at 6 pm after getting the nod from the fire brigade," said Neera Asthana, spokesperson Mahanagar Gas.