Ardee City residents in Gurugram protest against govt, demand better power infrastructure

A year ago, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had assured construction of a 33-KV substation to end the electricity shortage problem.

Residents of Ardee City on Saturday protested against the government and the administration for not fixing their electricity infrastructure.

Ardee City residents protest against Haryana government demanding improvement in electricity supply, in Gurugram, on June 2, 2018. (Yogendra Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

Residents demanded direct power supply from Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), instead of supply through the developer. They gathered on a road near Ardee Mall around 4.30pm and held a peaceful protest.

A year ago, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had assured construction of a 33-KV substation to end the electricity shortage problem. Following that, the district administration and DHBVN asked the developer to provide land to set up the substation.

On May 14, KM Pandurang, the director general (DG) of town and country planning (TCP), Haryana, had called officials of Ardee, district town planner and DHBVN, and residents for a meeting and ordered work on the substation to be started in 15 days.

“It is nearly a month but there is no sign of developer providing land to DHBVN and DTP officials expediting the issue. This is the third consecutive year that we have left no stone unturned to make it happen. We have held eight protests in the scorching heat, but the officials are hand in gloves with the developer. The developer is fearless,” Chaitali Mandhotra, a resident, said.

Praveen Yadav, president of Ardee City RWA, said, “The builder charges us double for electricity, compared to DHBVN. Like Sushant Lok-1, South City 2 and Palam Vihar, we want direct connections from DHBVN to end the substation issue.”

“We have directed the developer to provide the land for substation in the next 15 days without fail,” Pandurang said.

Anil Hasija, vice-president of Ardee Infrastructure, said, “We will definitely follow the directions of the government in this regard.”