Even as the city is experiencing the hottest days of the season with the rest of northern India, residents can’t rely on water and power supply for respite from the scorching heat. As in the past, Gurgaon is reeling under acute water and power crisis this summer too.
With summer peaking power supply has become so erratic that one can’t predict when it will be available and when not. It has become a routine with the residents of the Millennium City to experience six to seven hours of power cuts every day.
The power crisis has severely affected water supply too. With power supply remaining off most of the time, residents are not able to run motor pumps to store water in tanks.
Sanjeev Mohan, a resident of Rail Vihar, said, “For the past few days, Dakshin Haryana Vitran Bijli Nigam (DHBVN) is snapping power supply during morning and evening hours, when it is required the most to run motor pumps for storage of water. Sometimes, even though electricity is available, voltage is so low that it won’t be able to take the load of motor pumps.”
After repeated attempts, when they could finally approach AJTO of east zone, it threw its hands up saying DHBVN officials are helpless in the face of demand for electricity peaking at the moment, he added.
Speaking about his experience, Ravish Pal, a resident of Kendriya Vihar in Sector 56, said, “With no one at the DHBVN to attend to our complaints, we feel helpless.”
While supply is unpredictable, low voltage is another worrying factor for the residents. According to Pal, due to low voltage in the past 10 days air conditioners (ACs) and air coolers are giving in. Electrical appliances broke down in large numbers during this period.
Besides Sector 56, power supply was hit in DLF phase 1, 2,3, 4 of Sector 55, South City, Sohna Road and other areas of old city. With majority of the complaints to DHBVN going unattending, residents have no option but to endure in silence.
When contacted, superintending engineer of DHBVN Balwant Singh said, “Technical faults occurring in substations could possibly be leading to power breakdowns in certain areas. We have been working overtime to sort out the problem and have directed all officials to keep a vigil on every power substation and transformer to minimise chances of technical errors.”
