Gurugram societies pay Rs 38/unit for backup amid cuts

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, May 2

The ongoing power crisis has not only affected the local industry, but also hit the residents of about 50 high-rise societies in New Gurugram hard as they are being forced to pay as high as Rs 38 per unit for backup through DG (diesel generator) sets.

Residents Paying through the nose

• About 50 societies in New Gurugram are facing 8 to 12-hour cuts every day
• Realtors are charging Rs 30 to Rs 38 per unit for power through DG sets
• The normal govt power supply rate is Rs 7 to Rs 8 per unit

Most of these societies are in Sectors 58 to 115 and are facing average daily cuts of eight hours. The residents of several societies have even approached the local administration seeking a cap on the backup prices, but to no avail. The realtors attribute the high prices to costly diesel, available at about Rs 97 a litre.

"The Haryana Government is also to be blamed. It issues alert for six-hour cuts, but outages last over eight to 12 hours. Against the normal rate of Rs 7 to 8 per unit, we have to shell out Rs 38, which is five times higher," said Kapila, a resident of Coronation Society in Sector 85. The G-21 Society in Sector 83 is learnt to be facing maximum cuts of up to 10 hours daily. The residents here are paying Rs 30 per unit for backup.

"The situation is grave. The high backup rate of Rs 30 to Rs 38 per unit is financially unviable. Moreover, the excessive use of DG sets has been causing pollution," said Yashesh Yadav of Dwarka Expressway Welfare Association. Naveen Verma, DHBVN Chief Engineer, however, partially put the onus of the crisis on the poor transmission infrastructure in these societies, which "was unable to bear excessive load". "The flats that can sustain only one AC as per their permitted load have four to five ACs fitted, which leads to infrastructural issues. Besides, underground wiring gets snapped at times due to drilling or renovation, resulting in cuts. We try to resolve complaints as fast as possible, but can't do much about supply shortage," said Verma.

According to officials, the city is facing a deficit of 115 lakh units and voltage fluctuations are being reported across the city. The electricity department has cancelled the leave of all its employees to deal with the complaints, which from an average of 50 to 60 last April are as high as 150 in each zone.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/UpcgCYS