Gurgaon: Sushant Lok 1 residents grappling with power cuts, water shortage

Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), the state-run power utility, pinned the blame on the developer

Sushant Lok 1 residents faced massive power cuts on Wednesday due to a fault in a cable at the power supply station in Sector 53. What compounded the woes for residents is that the outages crippled water supply in the area.

Residents called for replacement of old transformers, which, they claimed, haven’t been maintained for long. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

“For about seven hours, there was no electricity in our block (Block C), A and B on Wednesday. This has been going on for a long time, but despite repeated complaints no action has been taken,” Dr AK Nagpal, president of the local residents’ welfare association (RWA), said.

Voltage fluctuations and frequent power cuts have resulted in shortage of water in the area, as residents cannot run their pumps and the flow of water comes down to a trickle.

“Frequent disruptions in water supply makes the situation worse. As if suffering long power cuts isn’t enough, we also can’t fill our overhead tanks on most days. We are literally being denied two basic amenities. How are we supposed to do without water and electricity?” Nagpal said.

DV Sharma, a resident of block A, said the residents there are also grappling with similar problems.

“Residents of block C are not the only ones facing these problems. The entire area is facing a shortage of water and electricity,” Sharma said.

Residents called for replacement of old transformers, which, they claimed, haven’t been maintained for long.

“Power cables are rusted and the panel boxes are seldom replaced or maintained. Despite repeated complaints on the dismal power supply situation, not one official from the power department has cared to visit the area over the last few months. There is an urgent need to upgrade or replace the high-tension cables, which, we feel, is the key to resolving this problem,” Sudhir Sachdeva, member, collegium of residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) at Sushant Lok, said.

Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), the state-run power utility, pinned the blame on the developer.

‘The responsibility of making provision for requisite power infrastructure in the area is the developer’s, not ours. We are still trying our best to ensure adequate electricity supply to the area. We have already replaced four transformers and three more will be replaced within a week. We recently conducted a survey on what’s ailing the transformers. They need to be replaced at the earliest,” KC Aggarwal, superintendent engineer, DHBVN, said.

“We have already sent notice to the developer and he will have trouble getting new connections for his projects in Haryana if he doesn’t provide the adequate power infrastructure in Sushant Lok 1,” Aggarwal said.