The Capital reeled under massive power-cuts on Friday night, making life more miserable for Delhiites facing strong heat wave like conditions for the past one week.
South Delhi and East Delhi areas were majorly affected as power supply was interrupted from two to 10 hours in different parts including Jangpura Extension, Patparganj, Qutub Enclave and Mayur Vihar.
Sameer, a resident of A-Block, Jangpura Extension, said: “I reached home from work at 11 p.m. and found that there was a power cut. I waited there till 12 midnight, but the heat was intolerable so I went to stay at a colleague’s house who stays in another block.”
People in CR Park also faced a harrowing time. Snigdha, a resident of G-Block CR Park, said: “There were constant power cuts from 11 p.m. till day break. The maximum time for which power was restored at a stretch on Friday night was an hour. It was really annoying because we do not even have a power back-up at our home. We never needed it, there are no power cuts in CR Park generally.”
The private power distribution companies said the problem was caused by technical snags in the transmission network which is maintained by Delhi Transco Limited, a Delhi Government entity.
Fault in transformersTalking about the problem in South Delhi and East Delhi areas on Friday night, a Power Department official said: “Last night there was some fault with a 220 kV transformer of Delhi Transco Limited in Okhla area, and many parts of South Delhi had to suffer due to this. In East Delhi also, there was a technical snag in one of the transformers.”
Delhi Transco Limited spokesperson Rishi Raj explained the reasons behind the power cuts. “Last week’s storm has affected some areas due to which power supply has been disturbed. There was fault in three major lines including Bawana-Rohini Line, Bamnauli-Papankala Line and Mandola-Gopalpur Line. All those areas coming under these lines are facing problems. After the storm, we have deployed temporary measures like ERS and we have shifted the load from some lines to the others, but it fails at times due to constant load.”
“Also, due to the weather, there is a constant power demand. As a result the supply equipments do not get time to cool off and faults occur,” added Mr. Raj.
“Power supply was restored in most of the areas by Saturday,” he added.
Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had on Friday said many areas will continue to face planned blackouts for a few more days as repairs to the power towers and lines which were damaged in the storm that hit the city last week are taking time.
