Discoms asked to come out clean
Staff Reporter

Delhiites urged to bear with the power situation

Shortfall of more than 500 MW on Tuesday
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday asked the Capital’s power companies to come out with the truth about the efforts being made to arrange power, even as she asked the power consumers to “bear with this unprecedented situation”. The city has been reeling under power cuts for the past few days.

“Despite the best efforts of the Government and the power sector companies in Delhi, the difficulties are likely to continue for a few more days and the rotational load-shedding of maximum two hours each is also likely to continue for a few days in such a situation. The citizens are requested to kindly bear with this unprecedented situation,” said a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office following her meeting with Chief Executive Officers Arun Kanchan (of BSES) and Sunil Wadhwa (of NDPL).

With power cuts back in the Capital, the Chief Minister has now asked the two discoms to “truthfully explain their difficulties to customers so that they are kept abreast with the ground realities and expected difficulties”.

The Chief Minister, who reviewed the power situation, was also reported to be unhappy with the fall in power generation at Delhi’s own power plants. At the meeting, the discoms in their defence said load-shedding had to be carried out due to under-frequency and the shortfall in power has been set off by the unprecedented dry spell and high temperatures.

The discoms have also put forth their inability to purchase expensive power; the cost of power through the exchange has risen to as high as Rs. 17 per unit.

On Monday the city faced a shortfall of over 500 MW and load-shedding of about 480 MW was carried out across the city for several hours. The situation was similar on Tuesday when the city again faced a shortfall of more than 500 MW that had to be offset by over-drawal from the Northern Grid and rotational load-shedding. On Tuesday the city’s own generation was less than 1,000 MW even as the peak demand rose to 4,057 MW. The situation on the power front was equally bad in neighbouring Ghaziabad in UP and Faridabad.