Date:12/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/12/stories/2008051258370300.htm

New Delhi

Punish discoms, says BJP

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan has demanded that Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the power distribution companies that have been resorting to load shedding on the one hand and have on the other been selling Delhi’s share of power to other States.

Making a mention of the allegation levelled by Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh in which he had advised the Delhi Power Minister A. K. Walia that he should take action against the private power companies selling power meant for Delhi to other States, Dr. Vardhan said it has on May 8 that Mr Ramesh had spoken to Dr. Walia.

The BJP leader said Mr Ramesh himself declared that actually Delhi was not facing acute scarcity of power as was being propagated by the power companies who have not been drawing the full quota of power from the Northern Grid and have been selling Delhi’s remaining share of power to other States in a surreptitious manner.

Dr. Vardhan said while U.P. and Haryana have been drawing more power from the Northern Grid to meet the needs of their people, it is ironical that to earn more money the discoms have decided to sell Delhi’s share of power while the city continues to reel under relentless power cuts.