NEW DELHI: New Delhi residents faced misery yesterday as the Indian capital reeled under one of its worst power and water shortages in years, during an acute heat wave and a delayed rainy season.
The power and water woes continued without an end in sight, with citizens taking to the streets yet again yesterday to protest the crippling shortages. People blocked traffic, vandalized offices of power distribution companies and demonstrated outside the home of state Power Minister A.K. Walia.
The city’s power grid has been stretched thin, with demand at its highest ever as the worst-hit areas have suffered outages of up to 10 hours over the past few days. The power cuts also affected water supplies and forced many to sleep in their air-conditioned cars as the mercury reached 48 degrees Celsius.
Traffic lights and universities were not spared from the cuts and even New Delhi’s main international airport had to rely on a back-up power supply. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said she was “monitoring the situation,” while government officials blamed neighboring states for using too much electricity from the shared power grid.
Water supplies have also been hit by this year’s delayed monsoon season. Annual monsoon rains failed to appear two weeks ago, prompting concerns about the impact on water supplies and agriculture as lakes run dry after a long, hot summer. Since April more than 100 people have died in a heat wave roasting mostly northern and eastern India.
At several places in Mayur Vihar, Okhla, Rajinder Nagar, Tilak Nagar and localities in East Delhi, people blocked traffic and vandalized offices of power service providers, a police official said. East, North and Outer Delhi areas were powerless for five to nine hours Friday night following the failure of a power grid in the capital.
According to a Delhi Transco Limited official, the city’s power demand Friday was 4,206 megawatts but it received only 4,171 megawatts. “The reason behind the power shortage was a grid problem in Loni in east Delhi resulting in low frequency. Moreover, the power distribution companies are not following any specific plan and are doing things on their own,” an official said.
The monsoon yesterday further advanced into the central India, leading to rainfall in some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chattisgarh. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is also likely over west coast, Assam and Meghalaya, east Uttar Pradesh during next 48 hours.
Residents of the union territory of Chandigarh and the states of Punjab and Haryana also continued to reel under the scorching summer heat.
— With input from agencies
