The Hindu : New Delhi News : No respite on power, water front

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

No respite on power, water front

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 26. Power supply to major parts of the Capital was affected for about an hour on Monday afternoon as the power distribution companies resorted to load-shedding to the tune of about 1,000 MW due to sudden tripping of the crucial Rihand-Dadri supply line of Northern Grid. South, West and East Delhi were the worst hit by the sudden crisis. The Delhi Power Minister, Haroon Yusuf, claimed that the situation was quickly brought under control. "The impact of the near collapse of the Northern Grid was not felt much because of timely intervention and better management practices adopted by our officials," he said. It happened around 12-40 p.m. due to the sudden tripping of the Rihand-Dadri HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) line. The frequency dropped dangerously to 48.2 MhZ, causing an immediate shortfall of about 950 MW. "This continued for about 15 to 20 minutes," he claimed, adding that the frequency started improving after about 45 minutes.

Besides the drop in the grid frequency level, the continued closing down of two generating units at Singrauli and Unchahar and one unit of Narora power plants were also responsible for the crisis, the BSES said. One unit of the gas-based Pragati Power also tripped.

The worst hit areas were Okhla, Nehru Place, Alaknanda, East of Kailash, Masjid Moth, Jawaharlal Nehru University, R.K. Puram, Dwarka, Bhikaji Cama Place, Laxmi Nagar, Dilshad Garden, Nand Nagri, Wazirabad, Seelampur, Karawal Nagar, Preet Vihar, Mayur Vihar-I and II, Shahdara, Janakpuri, Nangloi, Bindapur, Matyala and Pappankalan. Mr. Yusuf said the situation improved rapidly. "The load-shedding was gradually reduced and by 4 p.m. we were drawing 3,279 MW. The average load-shedding today was just 50 MW," Mr. Yusuf claimed. The Power Grid chief, R.P. Singh, said there was no shortfall in availability of electricity to the Capital even during the hours of crisis. "We ensured that Delhi received its allocated quota of electricity," he said, adding the crisis was quickly averted. Meanwhile, the situation on the water front once again took a turn for the worse due to drop in the water level at Wazirabad and Western Yamuna Canal. The Delhi Jal Board attributed the drop to decrease in raw water supply by Haryana. A senior DJB official said the situation had improved on Sunday and the water level was increasing till this morning. It is only today that the water level suddenly started receding and dropped considerably, he said.

The water level at Wazirabad dropped to 674.1 feet against the requirement of 674.5 feet. "The level had been dropping for the past few days," officials said, adding that all this has badly affected the treatment and subsequent supply of water to major parts of the Capital. "Till the crisis continues, we would be supplying water only once a day to the colonies," the DJB said. It also appealed people not to waste water.

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