Helpline fails,BEST admits it was caught napping

The first monsoon downpour has jolted BEST out of its slumber,with the undertaking admitting failure of its helpline.

A majority of calls to the eight fuse control and off supply numbers for different areas released by BEST last week did not receive response. The issue was discussed at a BEST committee meeting Monday. Committee member Kedar Hombalkar said,Citizens sought my help after a prolonged power failure. Despite calling the control numbers repeatedly,there was no response. What is the use of the facility?

Another member Ranjan Chaudhary said,Citizens are complaining the control numbers are not working. We had to call higher officers and only then did the control room respond.

Major flooding resulted in prolonged power failures in Parel,Chinchpokli,Lalbaug and Dadar on June16.

O P Gupta,general manager,BEST,admitted,Our people were caught napping. No one estimated such heavy rainfall in June. We are taking steps to ensure the numbers work and people get help. I will look into the system failure and ensure it does not happen again.

Over the weekend,more than 80 fault complaints were received by the administration after waterlogging caused power failures.

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