Power supply to tower’s blaze-affected

MUMBAI: The BEST’s power arm is trying to restore electricity supply to BeauMonde’s B wing by Tuesday, a senior official told TOI on Friday. A fire broke out in a duplex penthouse at the high-rise on Wednesday afternoon, and raged for over four hours, gutting the apartment. After a committee meeting, BEST deputy general manager R J Singh said, “We should be able to expedite and restore power supply in three days. However, we will take a final call on Tuesday after reviewing the situation.”

He said that water had entered the electrical rising ducts, and there was an urgent need to dry the busbars and insulators which run across the building’s 33 floors. The BEST is guiding private consultants who have been appointed by the housing society to expedite the drying process. “We have to ensure there are no electricity related issues or short-circuits once the power supply is restored,” said the official, adding that a probe was being conducted by the electrical inspector. Although Singh said the department will try to restore supply in three days, there are a few more parameters that need to be looked into. An official said, “A final clearance will be required from the electrical inspector before systems are switched on.” According to the fire brigade department that has completed its work in the building, the society needs to conduct an audit of electricity supply network with the help of a consultant, before asking BEST to restore power supply. BEST officials have also assisted the police in ascertaining the cause of fire as a preliminary probe does not rule out a short-circuit. Meanwhile, the building’s security staff told TOI that water accumulated in the lift and the electricity duct is yet to be drained out. Security guards said that though work is in progress, but it looks like it would take more than a week. They said that some B wing residents have flats in other wings of the society and they are staying there. Power supply to the other wings of the society and the clubhouse has not been disconnected. “Residents of Bwing (the fire-affected wing) have been advised not to occupy their flat till power supply is restored,” said a guard. “Some residents of B-wing are staying with their relatives or in hotels. They visit their flats in case they want to collect some stuff, but they need to climb up the stairs to reach their flats. We are helping them,” said another guard.