Mumbai: Responding to the outcry over frequent power cuts in South Mumbai, state assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar lashed out at the BEST and said that the power shortage in the country’s financial capital was “regrettable” and that the utility had “utterly failed” to resolve it.Narwekar has called a meeting in his chamber on Wednesday with the BEST general manager, BMC commissioner, energy officials and city MLAs. “If this issue is not resolved, then the BEST general manager will have to appear before the state legislature,” said Narwekar.Narwekar said, “Did the BEST not plan for climate change and the problems caused by high temperatures?”He said that often when the public contacts the call centre, the phone goes unanswered. “There is an engaged tone. We need to know how long it takes the BEST to resolve complaints,” said Narwekar.Meanwhile, minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal admitted that the unusually high temperatures in May and June (the highest in 57 years) had pushed power demand from 907 MW to 1,010 MW.“As a result of the high demand, the underground electricity cables are getting damaged and we are placing overhead cables. One solution is building an additional sub-station for which three locations have been identified and BEST has made a provision of Rs 20 crores,” said Misal.She said that demand had shot up owing to the higher use of air-conditioners on account of the heat. Also, because of interruptions in LPG supply, there was a rise in the use of induction ovens in May and June.She admitted that around 1,200 complaints relating to underground cable faults in South Mumbai had been pending since 2024.The question was raised in the assembly by Congress MLA Amin Patel and BJP MLA Tamil Selvan.Patel threatened to go on a hunger strike on the steps of the state legislature if the issue is not resolved in a week.“There are frequent power cuts going on for hours in South Mumbai. In one building, the power cut lasted for three days,” said Patel. He said that 1,200 jumper lines had been placed in Mumbai, which would result in massive problems in monsoon.He said that the BEST had not filled vacancies in the electrical supply department since 2015. “There are 5,000 vacancies and the BEST is bankrupt. Phone calls to raise complaints go unanswered,” said Patel.