With the temperature reaching 46-47 degrees Celsius in the last couple of days, power consumption in Gurgaon reached a record high of 1,700 megawatts (MW), or 450 lakh units. The power discom Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN) has claimed it has adequate electricity to feed the demand.
“The peak demand in the past two days went up to around 1,700 MW, which we supplied. Of this, 1,500 MW was consumed by urban Gurgaon itself. This summer has recorded the highest average consumption of 270 lakh units daily, which corresponds to an average demand of 1,125 MW,” said Sanjiv Chopra, chief engineer, DHBVN.
The highest consumption last year was 1,300 MW. Chopra said, “1,700 MW is the highest peak consumption in the history of the Gurgaon circle. With the restoration of power supply from the Sector 72 power house, we have enough electricity to meet this demand.”
Despite DHBVN’s claims, residential areas and industrial areas such as Udyog Vihar continue to face power cuts.
On Tuesday, representatives of the Chamber of Industries, Udyog Vihar, met top officials of the DHBVN regarding regular power cuts that last for hours.
“Erratic electricity supply has been adversely hitting industrial activity during summer months every year. Assurances of permanent solutions are given every time, but the situation has remained as bad as ever. This causes an average of four to five hour power cuts that force us to use generator sets as backup,” said Colonel (retired) Raj Singla, president of the chamber.
Ashok Kohli, vice president of the chamber, said, “The officials once again gave us an assurance of improvements in infrastructure at Sector 20 sub-stations that feeds industries. Soon, monsoon will arrive and the months of crisis will again pass to the next year.”
Residential areas such as South City, Sushant Lok, sectors 21, 22, 23, New Palam Vihar and other localities too are facing an average of three to four hour power cuts daily.
“In South City-2, power cuts have become the biggest issue as area residents have been dealing with three-to-four hour long power cuts a day, which has stretched to six hours in the last couple of days,” said Neeraj Yadav, president, South City-2 RWA.
