The Hindu : New Delhi News : Make power supply status public: Sheila

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Sunday, Apr 15, 2007
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New Delhi

Make power supply status public: Sheila

Staff Reporter

BSES told to refrain from load-shedding as there is no power shortage in the Capital

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday directed power distribution company BSES to refrain from any load-shedding as the Capital was not facing any power shortage.

She also directed the company to win the confidence of the people.

At a high-level meeting convened to discuss power-cuts being resorted to during the past one week in different parts of the city, Ms. Dikshit directed the State Power Department, the transmission company Delhi Transco, and the three discoms to jointly make public a daily status report on the power supply in the city to enable people to have the true picture.

The meeting was attended among others by Power Minister Haroon Yusuf, East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, several MLAs from East Delhi, Chief Secretary R. Narayanswami, Principal Secretary (Power) Rakesh Mehta and CEO (BSES) Arun Kanchan.

The meeting came in the wake of recent demands by the Opposition that the licence of BSES be terminated and power distribution be reverted to a Government agency as the discom had harassed people through fast-running meters and poor power supply and yet had been demanding an increase in the tariff despite thousands of crores being spent by the Delhi Government on power subsidy.

On Friday, Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan had demanded that Ms. Dikshit act quickly and remove BSES.

During the meeting, all the MLAs reported that there had been long power-cuts in their constituencies and this had affected normal life. They demanded that power cuts be avoided during early hours in the morning and night. They also sought that a schedule of load-shedding be communicated to them.

Raising concerns about ongoing power-cuts, the legislators expressed apprehension that the situation might go out of control during peak summer.

Ms. Dikshit directed BSES to come out with area-wise theft details and not resort to load-shedding in less theft-prone areas and on speculative reasons.

At this, Mr. Kanchan assured that there would be no load-shedding if the power supply was adequate.

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