New Delhi: Delhi's power demand on Thursday broke all previous records, breaching the 6,000 MW mark for the first time, even as residents across several areas of the megapolis sweated out owing to outages in the midst of a tormenting heat wave.
The State Load Despatch Centre recorded the maximum power load of 6,044 MW at 3.36 PM, earlier at 2.34 PM the electricity demand peaked at 6,011 MW. As compared to last year, the rise totals to an increase of over 20 per cent.
The previous record was logged on July 11, 2014 when consumption had touched 5,925 MW. Authorities urged residents to stop using non-important power guzzling appliances during peak hours. The state-run Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) said demand of power has gone unpredictably high in the last few days and stated that non payment of dues by BRPL and BYPL was hampering operations and maintenance activities.
People took to social media in venting out their frustration as various areas of the city, especially its western, northern and eastern parts, suffered power cuts ranging from one to five hours.
Due to a snag with DTL's Bamnauli-Pappakalan 220 KV transmission line for a couple of hours, power supply in parts of West Delhi, including Dwarka and Uttam Nagar was impacted, power officials said.
Although DTL put the onus on the discoms saying it is getting its legitimate dues (over Rs 2,000 crores) which have been duly approved by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission. The other areas that suffered outages include Khajuri Khas, Sangam Vihar, Najafgarh and Nizamuddin among others.
"I am at Dwarka where there is a 2 hour power cut daily. Sir please save us from power cuts every night. Power is a basic requirement," Shashwat Sharma, a Dwarka resident tweeted tagging Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Akhil Saroch, a resident of South Delhi's Dakshinpuri said there was a blackout for around three hours. Officials said that the demand may go up further in July when coolers will be rendered ineffective in the wake of rising humidity levels and air-conditioners will be switched on across houses and establishments.
"Another important point for outages is that due to extreme heat and power demand round the clock for the past few days, electricity network is not getting sufficient time to cool down. This can stress the network and at times, increase faults," a discom official said.
