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New Delhi
Power cuts amid plenty
By Our Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. Despite a comfortable power situation in the Northern Power Grid, Delhiites have been subjected to a traumatic winter. Mismanagement in the Delhi Vidyut Board and Government inability to get additional power for the Capital have been responsible for their woes.
Unscheduled cuts for several hours, at times even stretching into days, even in non-theft prone areas has become a routine feature for the past few months. Though there has been no major breakdown like last January when the entire Northern Grid collapsed, the peak demand this year has hovered around 2,700-2,800 MW unlike last winter when it crossed 3,000 MW on several occasions.
Adding to the suffering of residents are the large number of complaints with regard to local faults and breakdowns that are left unattended for hours and at times even days. With DVB privatisation in its last phase and officials busy in activities related to its unbundling, such complaints seem to be their last priority.
The loadshedding schedule which was announced by the DVB early this month, is rarely followed. ``This summer was much better compared to December and January. The DVB rarely resorted to power cuts even during loadshedding schedules in summer. This January they have been resorting to several hours of unscheduled cuts, even though the Government has come out with a loadshedding schedule,'' said D. M. Narang, general secretary of the R-Block New Rajinder Nagar Resident Welfare Association.
``We never had such a bad power situation in January. There are days when electricity is not there for over 12 hours at a stretch,'' said Ram Kishan, a resident of Tigri in South Delhi. ``So far we were having a comfortable power situation in winter. This time, it is unbelievable as we are having regular power cuts for several hours in a day,'' said Anand Thakur, of Laxmi Nagar area in East Delhi.
The situation has been deteriorating with every passing day in the past few months, in particular after November. ``Instead of concentrating on overall management of available power, senior DVB officials and the Delhi Power Minister, Ajay Maken, have been visiting other States for setting up power stations. These are long-term solutions. What we immediately need is proper management, as was done during summer. Making statements and false promises is not going to help much,'' complained Mukesh Nagar, of Model Town in North Delhi.
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