Summer relief: Centre allots more power to Delhi

This summer, Delhiites won’t feel the heat so much. The Centre has come to the rescue of the capital’s residents by increasing its allocation of power to the national capital during the peak months from April to September 2010, reports Bhadra Sinha.

This summer, Delhiites won’t feel the heat so much. The Centre has come to the rescue of the capital’s residents by increasing its allocation of power to the national capital during the peak months from April to September 2010.

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In a recent affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Delhi Government has claimed that it would have surplus power this summer.

But questions remain as to what will be the real power scenario once the summer sets in with its blistering heat as despite similar claims being made by the Delhi Government last year, the residents had faced long power cuts and load shedding.

This year, the anticipated demand for power has increased by over 800 megawatts (MW). But, the availability from the central sector generating stations, too, has gone up.

Last year, Delhi got between 2148 and 2172 MW from the central stations for the peak months. From this year, Delhi will get between 2689 and 3069 MW from the centre.

Thanks to the Centre’s intervention, Delhi is unlikely to witness load shedding even during June and July when the Capital would have a surplus power of 179 and 457 MW respectively.

If the government affidavit is to be believed there will be no power cuts in 2010. However, the past record doesn’t support the government’s tall claims.

In 2009, the government affidavit before the SC had stated there would be surplus power. Yet, the government was forced to take assistance from the grid.

In wake of the recent appellate tribunal order that imposed a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on Transco for overdrawing power from the grid on four occasions between January and October 2008, it remains to be seen if the government would resort to the practice.