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Delhi reels under power, water woes

New Delhi: Unprecedented power cuts coupled with severe water shortage continued to haunt the citizens in the blistering heat triggering angry protest in several parts of New Delhi against government’s failure to provide basic amenities.
Amid prevailing heatwave conditions, the power demand in the national capital shot up to an all time high of 4275 MW leaving a huge shortfall resulting in huge power cuts across the city.
Saturday’s peak demand of 4275 MW was the highest in the recorded history, said a power department official adding that the total loadshedding was recorded at 566 MW.
Under attack for the power crisis, the Delhi government on Saturday issued an advisory to the private Discoms asking them to strictly comply with the government’s directive to publish the schedule of power cuts.
Hit by the massive power cuts in the sweltering heat with Mercury touching 43.7 degrees, citizens continued their street protests demanding basic amenities from the government.
Protesters targeted a Discom office in East Delhi while Delhi finance minister A K Walia had to face the ire of denizens in the wee hours as a large number of people gathered near his house to protest against power cut in the area.
the protesters also blocked the busy Vikas Marg around 12.30 am and burnt tyres while police used force to disperse the crowd.
Angry people targeted the office of BSES in Laxmi Nagar after some localities in the area went without power in the night. They also broke open the locks of the office.
In the advisory, the government asked the Discoms to buy at least 250 MW of power daily from the power exchanges to meet the shortfall.
The Discoms were also told to employ enough manpower at complaint registration centres so that citizens grievances could be addressed.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit also summoned the CEO of a Discom and told him to strictly follow the government’s directives.
With most of the northern states overdrawing from the quota of power Delhi is also faced with the situation of under frequency which is forcing the Discoms to resort to loadshedding in various parts of the capital to avoid tripping.
The official said overdrawal of power by neighbouring states is putting a lot of stress on the grid.
As power cuts continued it affected water treatment plants across the city also resulting in shortage of water in several areas. PTI
Punjab turns off ACs in govt offices
Left powerless in the midst of a smouldering summer, Punjab has banned air-conditioners in government offices and asked public servants to report for work at 7.30am and shut shop at 1.30pm. The government has appealed to residents to stop using ACs, both at home and commercial establishments, switch off decorative lights and move to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Shops, malls and commercial establishments are to close at 7.30pm. The new work timings will go into effect from Monday statewide, except Chandigarh. Officials reckon, ACs consume 1,000 mega watts, equivalent to 240 lakh units every day. A state electricity board official said the board plans to divert the saved power to run farm tubewells and furnaces. A presentation by principal secretary, irrigation and power, Suresh Kumar to the council of ministers on Saturday, revealed that demand had witnessed a steep increase of 8,170 MW till date as compared to 6,083 MW during the corresponding period last year. “States which had committed power as part of bilateral banking arrangements are not able to supply us because of rise in their local demand following delayed monsoon and decline in rains by 51% over last year,’’ said Kumar. TNN