While major cities like Nashik, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Aurangabad are facing power cuts of up to two hours a day, smaller towns like Kalyan-Dombivali, Sangli, Satara, Amravati and such others are having to suffer power cuts of up to four hours in a day and the rural areas, for up to six to eight hours a day.

The press release issued by the state-owned power utility Mahavitaran has blamed the situation on the unprecedented hike in the demand.

The press release claims, normally during October due to the heat, power consumption goes up 700 Mw to 800 Mw but this year it has gone up nearly 2,000 Mw.

The average power available during the peak hours in October was around 10,475 Mw, the demand has touched 15,037 Mw. 

The the onset of the rabi season, the gap between demand and availability of power is expected to widen further.

While power utility is making all efforts to procure extra power from wherever possible, it has asked people from across the state to restrain themselves and to not resort to violent agitations which might aggravate the situation further.