The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhiites reel under massive power cuts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 29, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Delhiites reel under massive power cuts

Staff Reporter

Rising mercury, water shortage add to the woes

NEW DELHI: As if the rising mercury and water scarcity were not enough, Delhiites on Friday experienced long power cuts as there was a peak shortage of 534 MW in the morning when the demand shot up to 2,912 MW. With several of the units supplying power to the Northern Grid not operating properly and various States overdrawing power from the Grid, a crisis situation emerged.

Delhi Transmission Company (Transco) officials said the problem arose as there was a shortage in supply from the generating stations. "All the generating units in Delhi are not operating at their optimum levels and likewise many of the plants outside Delhi are also shut," said an official.

With two 500 MW units of Nathpa Jhakri project, one 500 MW unit of Rihand power project, two 210 MW units of Dadri, and some units of Singrauli and Oria also shut down, the official said there was a shortage of supply to the Northern Grid which also destabilised the frequency.

"In all, planned production of about 3,000 MW has not been taking place and this impacted the power supply in Delhi also. The satellite townships of Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad too have been experiencing long cuts." In view of the shortage of power, the private power distribution companies resorted to rotational load shedding all over the Capital. The North Delhi Power Limited spokesperson said almost all the areas supplied by them were affected and one-hour rotational cuts were resorted to.

The areas served by BSES also suffered long cuts due to the crisis. There was large-scale load shedding due to the scarcity and shortage of power. The worst affected areas here were Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, East of Kailash, Town Hall, Chandni Chowk, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Okhla Phase I, Mathura Road, Shastri Park and Minto Road to name a few. The power situation only improved towards evening as Delhi overdrew its share of power. But around 5 p.m., the demand-supply gap had been bridged.

The power cuts, however, left most Delhiites angry. Many of them wondered why supply was disconnected in colonies that pay their bills properly. "We are treated at power with those colonies where the power theft is rampant. There should be some reward for being honest consumers and penalty for being thieves," said Lalit Anand, a resident of Mayur Vihar.

More than daytime, it is the cuts at night that are causing greater concern to the residents. "Just as one is about to retire to bed at night, the power supply goes off. The discoms should be more thoughtful in their rotational policy," said a resident of Vasant Kunj, a colony that suffers from perennial water shortage.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section