Polling over power cuts water crisis back

With the polling for the Lok Sabha elections over and the votes in the EVMs, the crisis of power and water has emerged once again. The authorities had been directed to ensure proper supply prior to the polling to avoid any impact or unrest among voters, reveal sources.

The demand has shot up to 2.50 crore units and the department is imposing a 30-minute cut on substations to prevent damage due to heating and overloading. Complaints of damage to transformers had also increased. Efforts are on to streamline the supply. Naresh Kakar, Superintending engineer, dhbvn

“Why have the disruptions become frequent soon after polling?” asked Pramod Manocha, a resident of a Sector 88 society here. He said power supply was affected and there was frequent tripping due to the generators installed for power backup getting overheated due to long cuts. The cut was imposed for about four hours on Monday and over three hours on Tuesday, he said.

“Now that we have exercised our franchise, the authorities seem to have adopted a casual approach,” says Varun, a resident. He claimed that there was a stark difference between supply during pre-polling and post-polling period.

“Over 700 families have been without power for over 24 hours and majority of residents had to spend the night outdoors, waiting for the supply to resume,” stated Ravi, a resident of a high-rise in Sector 85. The residents had been told that there was disruption from the source. “If this had happened prior to elections, it would have attracted the attention of the authorities,” he remarked.

A four-hour cut was imposed this morning, according to Ram Rattan Narwat of Kheri Kalan village. Work on augmentation of power supply had been stuck due to the slow pace of setting up new substations in Greater Faridabad, said Sumer Khatri, a resident.

Meanwhile, protests have started over the poor supply of water. After residents of Dabua Colony blocked a road on Sunday, Neeraj Sharma MLA from the NIT Assembly segment met the civic authorities for the resolution of the issue.