 "Transmission network short-circuits Delhi")
The power crisis in the national capital, which has forced thousands of residents in the eastern, western and central parts of the city into long hours of darkness, was a disaster in the making.
A thunderstorm on May 30 and record high demand this summer were the immediate triggers behind multiple trippings in the transmission and distribution network, already made weak by lack of upgrades.
Power supply to several parts of Delhi has become erratic at a time when north India is in the grip of an extreme heatwave.
The stretched transmission system became even more vulnerable, as temporary arrangements were overloaded due to breakdown of the 220-KV 3Badarpur-Noida-Ghazipur line of UP Transmission Company on June 7.
To assess the situation, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday held a meeting with senior executives of Delhi Transco and power distribution companies. While the crisis has been limited to east, central and west Delhi so far, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), which supplies power to the northern parts of the city, warned of load-shedding in case transmission lines catering to its areas tripped. TPDDL said through the past year, it had written at least nine letters to DTL and the Delhi government, highlighting the urgent need to ramp up and upgrade critical transmission infrastructure projects.
"The situation after the storm on May 30 would have been handled without any load-shedding and disturbance, if the commissioning of the 220-KV Wazirpur grid with incoming power from the 400-KV Mundka substation had been completed on time," said a senior TPDDL executive.
On Monday, acting on the Lieutenant Governor's instructions, power distribution companies put up detailed load-relief schedules on their websites, informing residents of planned power cuts in various areas.
Reacting to the power cuts being implemented across the city, Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said surplus power was available for supply in Delhi. "But Delhi has not invested in transmission and distribution in the past decade," he added.
The two BSES companies claim since privatisation in 2001, they have invested about Rs 6,000 crore on load-growth infrastructure such as cables, and installation of meters and new technologies.
A senior power ministry official said the Centre has got state-run generator NTPC Ltd to agree to surrender three million standard cubic meter per day of gas from its quota to be supplied to Delhi if need arises.
A thunderstorm on May 30 and record high demand this summer were the immediate triggers behind multiple trippings in the transmission and distribution network, already made weak by lack of upgrades.
Power supply to several parts of Delhi has become erratic at a time when north India is in the grip of an extreme heatwave.
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After three main 220-KV transmission lines operated by the state-owned transmission company Delhi Transco Ltd (DTL) - Mandola-Gopalpur, Bamnauli-Pappankalan and Bawana-Rohini - were damaged in a thunderstorm on May 30, rotational load-shedding had to be implemented. System overloading resulted in 400-Mw load-shedding past week, when the peak demand in the city stood at 5,600 Mw.
The stretched transmission system became even more vulnerable, as temporary arrangements were overloaded due to breakdown of the 220-KV 3Badarpur-Noida-Ghazipur line of UP Transmission Company on June 7.
To assess the situation, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday held a meeting with senior executives of Delhi Transco and power distribution companies. While the crisis has been limited to east, central and west Delhi so far, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), which supplies power to the northern parts of the city, warned of load-shedding in case transmission lines catering to its areas tripped. TPDDL said through the past year, it had written at least nine letters to DTL and the Delhi government, highlighting the urgent need to ramp up and upgrade critical transmission infrastructure projects.
"The situation after the storm on May 30 would have been handled without any load-shedding and disturbance, if the commissioning of the 220-KV Wazirpur grid with incoming power from the 400-KV Mundka substation had been completed on time," said a senior TPDDL executive.
On Monday, acting on the Lieutenant Governor's instructions, power distribution companies put up detailed load-relief schedules on their websites, informing residents of planned power cuts in various areas.
Reacting to the power cuts being implemented across the city, Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said surplus power was available for supply in Delhi. "But Delhi has not invested in transmission and distribution in the past decade," he added.
The two BSES companies claim since privatisation in 2001, they have invested about Rs 6,000 crore on load-growth infrastructure such as cables, and installation of meters and new technologies.
A senior power ministry official said the Centre has got state-run generator NTPC Ltd to agree to surrender three million standard cubic meter per day of gas from its quota to be supplied to Delhi if need arises.