Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit demanded a detailed action plan to overcome the city’s power woes Tuesday, the day that the capital’s power demand peaked to a new high and residents took to the streets to protest the acute water and electricity shortages.
Dikshit had called for a meeting with power distribution companies and legislators to address the crisis and work out remedial measures.

“Dikshit has asked (power distribution company) BSES to submit a Detailed Action Plan (DAP) in black and white by tomorrow (Wednesday) which must include point-wise description of bringing the entire system back on track. This must include details in respect of all 110 complaint centres including names, designation and strength of officers, including their functional telephone numbers,” an official statement said here.

“I have called for this meeting so that these companies listen to the problems of MLAs faced by them at the ground level. The main problems are that complaint centres and the response departments are not functioning properly and the work that can be done in one hour takes six-seven hours,” Dikshit told reporters after the meeting.

“So, it needs to be improved. There are very less complaints against NDPL (North Delhi Power Ltd) as compared to BSES. I have asked BSES to submit a full action plan for the next 15 days (by) tomorrow,” Dikshit said.

“There are bound to be more challenges during the rainy season, hence the discoms (distribution companies) must be ready to face the challenges,” the statement said.

The city’s power demand broke all previous records Tuesday as it crossed the 4,330 MW mark though the mercury came down.

Earlier in the day, people took to the streets protesting the acute power and water shortages in several parts of the city.

Dabri area in west Delhi and Vishwas Nagar in east Delhi saw people blocking roads, leading to huge traffic jams. People in Dabri also burnt effigies of Dikshit and the newly elected MP Mahabal Mishra from the area.

“We don’t have water and we don’t have electricity. What are we supposed to do in this condition in the peak of summer? Our children are suffering and we have nothing to do,” said Sanjeev Sharma, a resident of Vishwas Nagar.

“DJB (Delhi Jal Board) and electricity officials listen to our problems but don’t do anything to solve them. Sometimes they show up after 12 hours of our complaint,” said Anil Sharma, a resident of Tis Hazari area in north Delhi.

Dikshit said the meeting was convened Tuesday to enable legislators, who have been facing the people’s ire, to take up residents’ complaints directly with the discoms.

The general complaints voiced by the legislators during the meet included long hours of power cuts, delay in attending to faults like repair and replacement of transformers, shortage of skilled staff, inadequate infrastructural development, lack of coordination between different agencies and discoms, and unmanned complaint centres.

At the meeting, Dikshit asked BSES to submit details of the immediate system upgradation, including revival and setting up of transformers, re-laying of cables and procurement of equipments. The city government is to circulate this action plan among all elected representatives.

Dikshit stressed that discoms must realise that their responsibility is to provide reliable power and they are duty-bound to purchase power from the open market.

“The city government has also been helping discoms in augmentation of availability of power by taking suitable measures. They are lacking responsiveness,” the official statement said.

But the chief minister noted that there was an improvement in the power situation after the last meeting Sunday when BSES was given four days to set things right.