As the national capital reels under frequent power cuts, Delhi Government on Monday blamed the neighbouring States for the crisis and sought the Centre’s intervention to check overdrawing of power by them from the Northern Grid.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sent a letter to Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde requesting him to direct the neighbouring States not to overdraw power from the Northern Grid as it leads to power cuts in Delhi.
“The load-shedding is taking place not because of power shortage but because of under frequency relays in the Northern Grid caused by overdrawing of power by the neighbouring States,” she said.
“I have requested the Union Power Minister to look into the issue,” she said.
Power Secretary Rajendra Kumar said that at a recent meeting with neighbouring States, Delhi had requested them not to overdraw power from the Northern Grid beyond their allocated quota as overdrawing puts lot of pressure on the grid and forces Delhi to underdraw power from it.
“We do not have any shortage of power. All the power cuts are taking place because of the under frequency relays. The neighbouring States will have to understand the problem, otherwise the grid may collapse one day,” he told reporters.
The problem of under frequency relay occurs when States draw more power than their stipulated quota from the grid.
With power demand rising significantly due to sweltering heat, Ms. Dikshit has requested the Centre to allocate more power to the national capital from its quota.
Mr. Kumar said some States have asked their power generation companies not to sell power outside their respective States keeping in view of the rising demand.
“It has also affected us as our discoms had entered into agreements with power generating units of some other States for supplying power to Delhi,” Mr. Kumar, also Managing Director of Delhi Transco, said.
