Ghaziabad residents are forced to live without electricity for up to ten hours at a stretch, owing to the long and frequent power cuts in the city.
The electricity department is trying to provide relief to residents through helpline numbers. For a fault in lines or power cuts exceeding two hours, residents of the Trans-Hindon areas of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara have been asked to call on helpline numbers 8130993703 and 8130896628 to register their complaints.
Superintending engineer of Trans-Hindon area, MC Sharma, told City Spidey that these helpline numbers will help residents ascertain whether the power cut is due to a fault in the line or load shedding. He said that operators of the helpline numbers will tell residents the approximate time by which power will be restored.
Residents, however, have termed this a mere publicity stunt by the electricity department. Anubhav Kumar, a resident of Vasundhara, said these helpline numbers are of no use, as calling on these does not help at all. Residents of Ram Vihar echo similar views. According to them, there is a massive gap between demand and supply of electricity in the city, and until the gap is bridged, no relief will be possible.
At present, Ghaziabad receives a daily supply of 800 megawatt, whereas the demand lies between 1,200 and 1,400 megawatt.
