Power outages continue in city despite dip in demand

The power demand and the mercury both came down a notch on Saturday yet several parts of the Capital witnessed load-shedding.

The power demand and the mercury both came down a notch on Saturday yet several parts of the Capital witnessed load-shedding.

HT Image

Despite claims by power discoms that they were able meet the demand successfully, several areas across the city reported power cuts of varying duration especially those located in North and West Delhi.

On Saturday, the maximum temperature in the city dropped below 44 degrees for the first time in the past week. The power demand remained at 4,954 MW, lower than Friday's all time high of 5,214 MW.

"There has been no respite from the sweltering heat in the past few days. Many societies in Rohini faced hour-long power cuts on Saturday. Voltage fluctuations made it worse. Power distribution companies should be pulled up for the mess this city is in," said Sanjiv Kumar, president of Delhi Residents' Front.

Areas that reported power cuts include Dwarka, Mahavir Enclave, Madhu Vihar, Rohini, Pitampura, Uttam Nagar and Janakpuri.

On Saturday, director (operations) of Delhi Transco Limited AK Haldar reviewed the power supply position in Delhi, especially the problem that had occurred in West Delhi two days ago. Power supply in West Delhi was affected due to snapping of a 220 KV transmission conductor on Thursday evening. Power department official said the situation has improved but later in the day on Saturday, there was again a technical snag in the line.

"We immediately started work to replace the broken wire. As the location of the fault was a high street light pole on the central verge of the main road, it took us time to carry out the maintenance. After a 10-hour repair operation, the fault was rectified," said a senior power department official.

The maximum temperature on Saturday was recorded at 43.5 degrees, three degrees above normal. The minimum was recorded at 30.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal. The maximum and minimum temperature on Sunday is expected to be 43 and 30 degrees, respectively.