Frequent power outages in rising heat make life difficult for city residents

With the mercury touching 45.5 degrees Celsius (˚C), the demand for power has gone up in Gurumgram, but so have the complaints of power outages and volage fluctuations.

With the mercury touching 45.5 degrees Celsius (˚C), the demand for power has gone up in Gurumgram, but so have the complaints of power outages and volage fluctuations.

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The problem is made more acute with children and senior citizens being forced to stay indoors due to the lockdown.

In sector 46, residents said power supply has been erratic and that the existing power distribution infrastructure was inadequate to withstand the load. “There is frequent tripping of transformers, sometimes the power cables snapped and the residents are suffering. The government should privatize the power supply system as there is no solution to these issues,” said RK Yadav, president, sector 46 residents’ welfare association.

Residents of sector 7, Mollahera sector 49, DLF phase 3, sector 14, sector 15, sector 17, sector 57, sector 31, Palam Vihar and other parts of the city also complained of frequent outages.

HS Nanda, president, sector-14 RWA said: “People can’t go out (due to lockdown) and daily power cuts of up to 3 to 4 hours is making life insufferable.”

Power utility company Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) that supplies to 500,000 consumers in the city, said that it had received around 1200 to 1300 complaints and that the situation was more or less under control. “There is no unscheduled power cut from feeders and supply is normal. If there is any problem it happens at local level due to snapping of a cable or a fuse but our teams are continuously working to rectify the problem,” said KC Aggarwal, chief engineer, DHBVN.

Haryana Power DISCOMs (Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam) have introduced the facility of trust reading for consumers to help rectify wrong meter readings in electricity bill, consumers can get the bill fixed by providing correct meter reading online. For this facility, the consumers will have to visit the Nigam’s website www.uhbvn.org.in or www.dhbvn.org.in. All information about the use of this facility is also available on the websites of the DISCOMs.