New Delhi:
Delhi has witnessed a long spell of summer with temperatures touching record high. On Friday too, the temperature was 41.3 degrees Celsius in Delhi, six degrees above normal.
Though the monsoon arrived in Delhi last Thursday, there has been no respite from the sweltering hot weather, which has led to a spike in power demand. On Friday, the power demand again broke all records, touching an all-time high of 5810 MW. The previous high was on Thursday when the power demand soared to 5789 MW.
The rise in electricity demand has led to long power cuts and water shortage in the city, leaving residents fuming. "There is no light for eight hours, this has been going on for the last 3 months, this year it has been particularly bad but the DGM says there is no location available to put a transformer," said Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a resident of Okhla area.
And what has hurt him the most is the electricity bill of whopping Rs 6500 for the month of June. He says despite spending long hours without power, such a bill is unbelievable.
His wife Hameeda says the quality of water is so bad in the area that everyday they spend at least Rs 100 rupees to buy some from the market.
The situation is no better is the market nearby. Shopkeepers say they are losing money because of erratic power supply. "The light has gone twice, because of a short circuit one of my computers died, this is heavy business time," said Amrit, a shopkeeper.
Delhi has witnessed a long summer and power outages. Their only hope is the Rs 700 crore allocated in the Budget for improving power and water supplies in the city.