No power, water or lifts: Vasai-Virar residents stranded for over 48 hours after heavy rain

For more than 48 hours, thousands of residents across Vasai-Virar have been living without electricity after floodwaters submerged transformers, forcing the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to suspend power supply as a safety measure. The outage has left many housing societies without water as pumps have stopped working, elevators out of service and residents stranded inside their homes with shops shut and roads submerged.

According to MSEDCL, electricity was disconnected to prevent accidents as floodwaters inundated power infrastructure across the region. Officials warned that even after the water recedes, power restoration could take another day or two as transformers and distribution lines will have to be inspected before supply can resume.

“With floodwaters rising to such levels, several transformers have been submerged, making the network highly vulnerable to short circuits. Last year too, we had to disconnect power to ensure the safety of residents in the flood-hit areas. However the situation is more prolonged this year because of the continuous heavy rains,” an MSEDCL official said.

He added that the extent of power disruption has not yet been assessed as field staff remain out of contact due to drained mobile phone batteries and communication failures.

“At this stage we are unable to ascertain how many areas or consumers have been affected because many of the officials responsible for the assessment cannot be reached,” added the official. He noted that a two-day power outage last year took three days to be restored.

“Even after the flood water recedes, we will have to inspect transformers and the distribution networks to ensure it is safe to restore electricity. That process will also take time,” said the official.

The prolonged outage has also disrupted water supply, with housing societies unable to operate pumps to fill overhead tanks. The lack of electricity has rendered lifts inoperative, leaving many elderly residents and those living in high-rise buildings confined to their homes.

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Vilas Suvare, a resident of Nalasopara, has been stuck at his home since Monday, July 6.

“With no lift, climbing down the stairs is no option either, as the entire area around the building is submerged in water. Shops are closed too. We are unable to access necessities such as milk and vegetables, etc. Most residents are trying to manage with whatever they have stocked in the kitchen,” said Suvare.

Sweta Pandey, a resident of Virar’s Chanakya Nagar, told The Indian Express that electricity has been cut off from the neighbourhood since Saturday as waist-level water has accumulated in the area.

“The entire area has been left submerged in flood waters since Saturday with the levels rising up to the hood of cars by Tuesday. In our locality, people on the ground floors have vacated their homes owing to rain waters breaching their houses. Due to the flooding, electricity supply has been cut off in our homes since Saturday, barring a span of 45 minutes on Sunday when the intensity of showers had reduced,” said Sweta.

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Vicky Yadav, a resident of Virar East said, “While we do not experience such extreme flooding in our building, the area has been submerged under water for days as the rain hasn’t stopped. Access to all roads have become restricted due to water logging and a large number of tree collapses have also been reported in the area. The situation is scary.”

According to residents, some of the worst flooding has been reported in low-lying areas around Viva College, Virat Nagar, Chanakya Nagar, YK Nagar, parts of Global City and pockets of Virar East.

The incessant showers have triggered extreme waterlogging along the railway tracks between Vasai Road and Virar, disrupting train services.

Suvare had so far avoided traveling to work after seeing the rain videos on social media. When he finally decided to go to the office on Wednesday, Suvare fell into a submerged pothole and sustained injuries to his leg.

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“Some people I know walked on railway tracks to reach home on Monday. That is very risky,” said Suvare.

Vasai local Govind Gunjalkar, who is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been helping residents who have been stuck inside their homes due to heavy rains.

“There are some parts of Vasai-Virar, such as Viva college area, Madhuban Society and Evershine city etc., which are prone to flooding even after a day of heavy monsoon rain. But this year’s situation is unprecedented. Many natural drainage channels have been lost in the unplanned construction, in addition to large-scale infrastructure development works ongoing in the region.”

Local corporator Ashok Shelke, too, has blamed the 30-year-old ‘ill-monitored’ town-planning which, he said, has led to the crisis.

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“Most of the electricity supply in the region is through overhead wires, unlike underground cable networks in many parts of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). With the increasing population, the demand for power has risen, overloading the existing power infrastructure and leading to frequent power outages. It is not known when the electricity will be restored, leaving locals in uncertainty,” he said.

Records procured from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed that over 713 mm of rainfall battered Palghar’s Vasai region between July 4 and July 8. According to the data, Vasai recorded 179 mm in the 24 hours ending July 5, followed by 231 mm on July 6, 136 mm on July 7 and 167 mm on July 8. Palghar Agri station recorded 1,128 mm of rainfall during the same four-day period.

ENDS