New Delhi: With the city reeling under long spells of power outages and blistering heat, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal held an emergency meeting with Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and other top officials to discuss the power crisis.
"We are suffering because of the inaction of the previous government," Goyal told reporters before the meeting with Jung in the Power Ministry. Delhi yesterday sizzled at 45.5 degree Celsius, six notches above normal and hottest temperature for the month of June in last ten years in the city.
The power outages have triggered protests by various political parties. More than 20 AAP MLAs staged a protest outside Union Minister Harsh Vardhan's house in East Delhi demanding urgent steps by the Centre to improve electricity supply in the city. On June 9, Congress MLAs and leaders locked Delhi Chief Secretary SK Srivastava in his room for over one-and-a-half hours, demanding immediate improvement in the supply of power and water in the national capital.
The Lieutenant Governor had on Sunday issued few directives to control the current power problem which included snapping power supply to malls after 10 PM. Jung had also ordered that high mast halogen lamps in the streets, which consume more power, should be switched off during night peak hours to conserve energy. Government establishments, including Delhi Secretariat and other government offices, universities, colleges have been advised to switch off air conditioning between 3.30 and 4.30 PM to conserve power during day peak hours.
