Expect power outages in North Delhi this weekend
Power outages are likely in parts of north Delhi this weekend as Delhi Transco Limited will carry out maintenance work on the 220KV Bawana- Rohini double circuit line from Saturday to Monday.
Power outages are likely in parts of north Delhi this weekend as Delhi Transco Limited will carry out maintenance work on the 220KV Bawana- Rohini double circuit line from Saturday to Monday.
According to a senior Transco official, alternative arrangements have been made to backfeed the power crunch in these areas. Backfeeding requires taking power from another source and diverting it to affected areas. According to power experts, to maintain regular power supply, emergency maintenance work is taken up from time to time.
“In case of any exigency, power supply may be affected rotationally for one hour in some areas. Power outages can be expected in Rohini, Shalimar Bagh, Rani Bagh, parts of Wazirpur, Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and so on,” the official said.
Delhiites have been faced with frequent outages this summer. Long power cuts hit parts of the city after demand hit an all-time high of 6,188MW on May 20.
In a stern warning to discoms to check unscheduled power cuts, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last month had said discoms would be made to compensate consumers for even one-hour-long outage if they do not improve their supply network in the next six months.
Read more: Give compensation to power consumers reeling from outages, says AAP
The warning came in the wake of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) issuing an order to discoms and power distribution companies to compensate consumers for unscheduled outages extending up to two hours. Penalties can go up to R100 per hour.
Kejriwal said there is a need to make discoms “accountable for outages” and then residents will benefit from the privatisation of power sector.
The Delhi government this Tuesday had accused Reliance-ADAG chairman Anil Ambani’s two electricity distribution companies of “atrocious” performance and sought a roadmap to improve the power situation in the Capital.
Read more: Power outages back in south and central Delhi
In a letter to the industrialist, Delhi power minister Satyendar Jain said his BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna discoms have failed to meet the people’s expectations and were allegedly besieged with corruption and financial irregularities.
The discoms, however, claim that they are committed to provide reliable power supply to its consumers. “We make special arrangements and are fully geared up to attend to any unforeseen exigency. Despite unprecedented and continuous high power demand during this summer, our distribution network has been able to largely measure-up,” an official said.