Both BMC, BEST and rly staff kept Mumbai moving between outages

Civilian officials mobilized generators and distributed more than 10,000 liters of oil to various hospitals within half an hour, ensuring that no one was displaced.

BEST placed 200 extra buses to give thousands of stranded passengers a way to get to work.
Railway police helped about 400 people stranded on trains to displace and arrive at the nearest station.

Despite a one-hour power outage across the city Monday morning, no patients had to be relocated from any of the Mumbais jumbo Covid-19 centers and hospitals thanks to BMC’s swift action. And when local trains stopped, BEST climbed the slab and placed 200 extra buses, helping thousands of stranded passengers get to their jobs. Officials from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), meanwhile, traveled the length of the local train network in Mumbais and helped hundreds of passengers stranded between stations deboard and reach the nearest station.

As soon as the outage hit at 10.05, civilian officials took action to ensure that thousands of patients undergoing treatment at Covid-19 centers and hospitals would not be affected. Within half an hour they had mobilized generators, distributed more than 10,000 liters of oil to various hospitals and ensured that the generators in the country were pressed for action. At the time the power supply was restored in the afternoon, there were no complaints from any of the Covid-19 centers and hospitals. The only consequence was that some minor surgeries in citizen-run hospitals had to be postponed, officials told the Mirror.

Immediately after a power outage, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal urged BMC (SWM) solid waste management department officials to mobilize diesel supplies for hospitals and running centers that did not have enough fuel to run their generators. A senior civilian, who did not want to be named, said, To ensure that there were no power outages in hospitals, all hospitals were asked to contact their respective SWM transport officers and ensure that they had enough oil to run the generators for at least eight hours They were also asked to contact the disaster control room for any assistance they sought.

Disaster control and other departments were asked to keep private vehicles of mobile generators on standby in the event of a power outage lasting beyond two hours. All hospitals were asked to contact the disaster control every half hour and inform them of the status of their generators and fuel supply, the official added.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani, who is in charge of the health portfolio, said, “The first thing we did was send extra oil to all the Covid-19 and BMC hospitals. With our tank fleet, we delivered nearly 10,000 gallons of oil to various hospitals. Our first priority was to supply all government and BMC run hospitals. And we asked our employees to simply get an acknowledgment from the private hospitals so that the accounts could be settled later.

At the jumbo center in Worlis NSCI Dome, which is fully air-conditioned, the backup generators were put into operation immediately. Sharad Ughade, assistant municipal commissioner, G-North ward, said, None of the patients needed to be relocated. We already had generators but had previously faced some power issues. But after the Nisarga cyclone in June we had ensured that we had an abundant supply of oil. So there was no issue Monday. We have 440 patients here, which is about 80% of capacity, but none of them had to be relocated. ICUs also functioned normally. An old doctor from the Covid facility at BKC said they had no problems at all and had spare power to last 18 hours.

Mihir Kotecha, BJP MLA from Mulund, said Mithaghar Covid Center, also, was intact. BMC had installed generators at the Mithaghar center even since it was launched, as we have power outages in Mulund. It needed a generator at the Richardson and Cruddas center but was fixed for 30 minutes and had no major concerns for any of the patients, Kotecha said.

At the Kandharpada jandbo center in Dahisar, ICUs continued to operate with backup generators. There were some complaints in the morning as the climate sector was heating up. But the generators were installed and there were no major issues. The BMC should ensure that generator reservations there are increased and diesel vans placed at jumbo centers in the event of a similar outage in the future, said BJP corporation Vinod Mishra, leader of the BMC party group.

There are 16 hospitals and large Covid-19 centers. There was a generator in all places and backup power for at least two hours. The Covid jumbo center at BKC had spare power to last 12 hours, while the Nesco Covid center had enough for eight hours and the Richardson and Cruddas center in Mulund had enough for four hours, a BMC official said.

I got to the office thanks to BEST

On the road, BEST placed 200 additional buses to minimize the loss of local train services and keep the city moving. As soon as we learned about power outages across the city, we instructed all the depots to put in extra buses. We generally run 3,700 to 3,800 buses every day, but on Monday we ran 4,087, said a BEST officer. The quick decision ensured that hundreds of passengers, who would otherwise have been stranded, made it work.

Among them was Vishal Shinde, 36, a resident of Mulund, who said he arrived at his office thanks to BEST. When I got to the station, I learned that the trains were not moving, so I decided to take a bus. When I arrived at the bus depot in Mulund there was a great rush, but a conductor told me not to worry as more buses were being pushed to the services. For 15 minutes I took a bus.

About 90 local trains were stopped when the outage hit at 10.05, leaving thousands of essential workers stranded. According to sources, 30 local trains stopped on the main Central Railway line and 15 on its port line. Another 45 trains on the Western Railway were similarly affected. CR and WR are currently providing over 950 local services daily to essential workers.

Officials from the Railway Protection Force (RFP) said they helped about 400 people, mostly elderly women and passengers, to move stranded trains between stations. Since several trains had been set up between the stations, we decided to help the passengers, especially the elderly citizens and women, to deport them and get to the nearest station, said a CR officer.

And with the public address system sitting at all stations, RFP staff informed passengers of the outage using hand-held megaphones. They also advised passengers not to rush to the platform immediately. We made every effort to help those trapped inside the trains and on the platforms by ensuring that there were no large crowds of people, said a WR officer.