Haryana seeks genset exemption till November 30 for Gurugram

The Haryana power department has sought exemption on the usage of diesel generator (DG) sets for 19 residential societies in Gurugram and Faridabad till November

The Haryana power department has sought exemption on the usage of diesel generator (DG) sets for 19 residential societies in Gurugram and Faridabad till November 30, along with the exclusion of Information Technology (IT) companies in Gurugram. On Monday, the department submitted its final take on the diesel genset ban, as directed by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (Epca).

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The decision on the November 30 deadline for residential societies and IT industry has been taken by the officials after consultation with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday. On Monday, Trilok Chand Gupta, additional chief secretary, power department, wrote to Bhure Lal, chairman, Epca, in this regard. A copy of the letter was accessed by HT.

In the letter, Gupta said that the ban on diesel genset has been reviewed in detail by the chief minister on October 23, along with departments concerned, including the environment department. “All the issues have been resolved, only in 19 cases, the exemption is sought for maximum up to November 30,” reads the letter.

The detailed affidavits of these 19 residential societies in Gurugram and Faridabad have already been sent to the Epca. These societies lack regular electricity connection and are dependent upon diesel generator sets. In their affidavits, colony developers have given four to five different timelines to reach the final process of getting electricity connections. The steps to be taken include the application for a tender, submission of bank guarantee, land and facility to set up the power substation to finally switch from DG set to regular connection.

DG sets are banned under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) implemented from October 15 to tackle air pollution from slipping to ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ category during winter months.

Earlier this week, Epca chairman Bhure Lal directed the Haryana power department to submit a comprehensive affidavit on the power supply to societies still reliant on diesel genset. For the exemption, Epca asked the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL) to fix a time frame for residential societies to get the regular power connection.

The state has also sought an exemption for IT companies, to allow operation of diesel generator sets as a secondary source of power in case of disruption in supply.

“Representatives from Nasscom {National Association of Software and Service Companies} have given a presentation on their issue as these industries run on servers which cannot afford to have a power break of a second,” said Gupta.

According to him, these companies will prepare a logbook of DG sets used by them when there is a disruption in the regular electricity supply. “If the IT companies are not considered for an exemption then these companies will have to look for an alternative back up source, like large-size invertors. Otherwise, the department will have to enforce the ban,” said Gupta.

Sunita Narain, an environmentalist and Epca member, confirmed that a letter has been received from the Haryana government. She said, “In case of IT companies, they want diesel genset as a backup option. But our question is — how will they manage it? The backup could also become a primary source of power. The issue was raised last year too. A discussion on the societies requiring exemption will be held after going through the detailed affidavits submitted by them.”