Around 1 lakh people to be impacted by diesel genset ban, power utility estimates

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Curran Nigam (DHBVN), has submitted a status report to the environment pollution (prevention and control) authority (Epca) regarding the

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Curran Nigam (DHBVN), has submitted a status report to the environment pollution (prevention and control) authority (Epca) regarding the pending power connections in the city and the number of group housing societies which shall be impacted if complete ban is imposed on the operation of diesel generators after October 15. As per the utility, 26 condominiums are dependent on gensets to a large extent while three group housing societies in new sectors are completely dependent on diesel gensets. DHBVN officials said that they have informed the EPCA that a large number of residents, who live in these societies, will be impacted if a complete ban is imposed on operation of diesel gensets.

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Around one lakh residents in new sectors, who live in these condominiums and don’t have regular electricity connections will be impacted by the ban, the power utility estimates. DHBVN officials also said that they are = identifying societies where temporary power connections, which were taken for construction purposes by developers, are now being used for residential purpose.

The ban is part of Epca’s graded response acton plan (Grap) to prevent pollution in Delhi and NCR from reaching severe levels. However, use of generators for essential services — such as hospitals, railways, Metro stations, water treatment plants and sewage treatment plans — is allowed.

As per the pollution department, there are around 10,000 generators operational in the city, both in residential and industrial sectors. Around 6,000 generators of more than 100 KWA capacity are used to augment power supply as backup for outages.

Vinita Singh, chief engineer, Smart Grid, who also holds the additional charge of chief engineer, Delhi circle, said that they have submitted the status report to Epca. “We have apprised Epca that residents of around 26 condominiums partially and three completely will get impacted if complete ban is imposed,” said Singh.

DHBVN officials also said that not taking regular connections was the failure on part of the developers, as they had not built the requisite infrastructure and also not met compliances set by power utility. “We are identifying societies where regular connections have not been taken by developers and people are consuming electricity on the basis of temporary connections. This is against rules and we will ensure that such connections are regularised,” said another senior official of DHBVN based, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The residents, meanwhile, said that the government should encash the security deposit submitted by developers and create the missing power Infrastructure including missing substations.