Delhi limps back to life

With the oil and gas PSUs strike coming to an end, Delhi is limping back to normalcy.

With the oil and gas PSUs strike coming to an end, Delhi is limping back to normalcy.

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Although Delhi’s power scenario remained the same as the last few days with several areas reporting long power cuts, government officials said it would improve by Sunday.

Delhi’s own power generation remained abysmal at 750 MW— around 300 MW less than usual — as till late evening Delhi plants had not received gas.

Pragati Power Corporation’s gas-based 330 MW plant, which had come to a halt on Thursday, ran a 90-MW unit on gas. However, the 282-MW GT power station remained partly shut as its two units ran on diesel.

With demand touching 3038 MW on Saturday, Delhi overdrew generously from the Northern Grid to the tune of 250 MW. East, North, South and Southwest Delhi faced intermittent power cuts throughout the day. “Load sheddings started early morning and since then the supply has been erratic,” said Savita Khanna of Dwarka.

“Without power, room heaters and geysers don’t work, so it’s a pain in winters,” said Tejendra Singh of Safdarjang Enclave.

Distcoms claimed power cuts were of shorter durations. “The power cuts were on rotational basis and all the areas were affected but they were never for long hours,” said an official.

Filling stations continued to have serpentine queues. “It took me two hours to get a few litres of petrol,” said Pankaj Kumar, accountant, at a filling station near CP. There was a marked increase in the number of cars on the road compared to the past two days.

The stations, which had been shut, resumed some business, although they had not received their supply yet. “We have not received our supply.,” said Rohit, manager at a Bharat Petroleum station near Janakpuri.