Ghaziabad faces 6-7 hour power cuts daily

Residents and industrialists across the city are facing power cuts of around six-eight hours for the last few days. The additional power outages have worsened the situation in trans-Hindon areas, which houses major highrises, besides business and industrial establishments.

Residents and industrialists across the city are facing power cuts of around six-eight hours for the last few days. The additional power outages have worsened the situation in trans-Hindon areas, which houses major highrises, besides business and industrial establishments.

Residents and industrialists have to depend on power backup to use electrical appliances. (SAKIB ALI/HT)

Most residents complained that unscheduled power cuts hampered their daily routines and they also missed television news regarding the recent ‘surgical strikes’ conducted by the Indian Army.

“There is a lot of humidity and the weather is still warm. People still rely on air-conditioners and coolers. We missed important updates on the television due to power cuts. We have been facing a four-hour power cut in the morning and a four-five hour power cut at night. Maintenance works should be completed in winter when there is less power demand,” Jugal Kishore of Shalimar Garden said.

In areas such as Indirapuram, residents complained of more than six-seven hours of power cut, which is leading to high power backup charges.

“There was nearly nine hours of power cuts on September 29 and nearly six hours on September 28. The cuts are continuing and we are running appliances on power backup, incurring additional cost on purchase of fuel to run diesel generator (DG) sets. We run two DG sets, each consuming nearly 35 litres per hour. The cuts last nearly six-seven hours on an average. Power cuts in the night are bothersome,” BK Pandey, maintenance manager of Arihant Harmony, said.

“@CMOfficeUP CM Ji, In INDIRAPURAM GZB no electricity since 1pm today. U shld hv focused on Electricity Than cycle track in UP to win elec (sic),” Saurabh Srivastava tweeted on September 29.

Sunaina ‏@sunainajairath also tweeted, “@UPPCLLKO no power in Indirapuram area niti khand for past almost 12 hours! backup has conked off no one responding (sic).”

She also tagged Union power minister, “@PiyushGoyal kindly do em-power UP NCR too. we live with 12 hour power cuts, no water and forced to sleep in our cars with kids (sic).”

Likewise, industrialists also said that the severe cuts were affecting their production ahead of the festival season.

“Power supply resumed around 2.30am on September 30. We are running appliances mostly on generator sets and this is causing more pollution too. Production has been hampered due to the erratic power supply,” Pramod Sharma, an industrialist from south side GT Road industrial area, said.

The electricity department said that the situation was temporary but will continue for another day or two.