Poor upkeep of infra, power cuts in Faridabad on the rise

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, June 10

With no respite from the scorching heat, power outages due to breakdowns and faults are on the rise, causing the residents to suffer.

Intermittent supply at night

Sarasmal, a resident of the Badkhal village here, said intermittent supply had become a regular feature at night. With over 100 complaints surfacing each hour, outages which ranged between three and five hours hit various localities, said a source in the DBHVN.Four new transformers installed in Sector-3 a few weeks ago had not been made operational, resulting in disruptions, said Rattan Lal Rana, a resident.

“Disruption in power supply has been for durations ranging between two and four hours daily due to breakdowns in transformers, lines and substations,” says Satpal Narwat, a resident of Kheri village.

He said while slow response and improper maintenance of the network due to shortage of staff had led to the problem in the majority of areas, the demand had shot up several times leading to overloading.

“The residential colonies in Greater Faridabad, NIT and Old Faridabad zones are among those facing the brunt of disruptions for the past month,” says Pramod Minocha, a resident of Sector-88.

Sarasmal, a resident of the Badkhal village here, said intermittent supply had become a regular feature at night. With over 100 complaints surfacing each hour, outages which range between three and five hours hit various densely populated localities, according to sources in the DBHVN. Four new transformers installed in Sector-3 a few weeks ago have not been made operational, resulting in disruptions, said Rattan Lal Rana, a resident who said outages had been consistent for over a month.

As the voltage in the system dips, it leads to breakdown in transformers and other equipment due to overloading, said an employee of the Power Department on the condition of anonymity. He said the time consumed in repairing faults could go up to five to six hours due to unavailability of the Off-On switch on transformers. Blaming poor upkeep, staff shortage and inadequate infrastructure, Subhash Lamba, spokesperson of the All-India Electricity Employees Federation of India, said that heavy dependency on outsourced contractors had made the problem acute.

“A new power substation of 200 MVA has come up in Sector-78. Another substation at Sector-89 is due to be commissioned in May 2025,” said Atul Aggarwal, Superintending Engineer, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam. While the complaints are attended promptly, efforts are on to streamline the supply in a proper manner, says Naresh Kakkar, Superintending Engineer, DHBVN, here.