Power, water crisis: Cong MLAs gherao Delhi chief secretary

Congress MLAs and scores of party workers on Monday gheraoed Delhi Chief Secretary S K Srivastava at his office, demanding immediate improvement in supply of power and water in the national capital.

The Congress workers, led by DPCC chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, accused the Delhi government of "total failure" in providing electricity to the people and said the issue is being handled in an "insensitive" manner.

"The Delhi government has failed miserably in supplying power and water to the people in the sweltering heat. Congress will step up the agitation if the situation does not improve. There was round-the-clock electricity supply when we were in power," said DPCC Chief Spokesperson Mukesh Sharma.

Sharma said Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has not shown any seriousness in addressing the problem of power and water.

"The chief secretary told us that he cannot do much on these two issues and asked us that we should approach the central government on this matter. Thereafter, we are not letting him go from the room," Sharma said.

Large part of Delhi continued to face long outages as the power transmission network damaged by the devastating storm on May 30 is yet to be restored fully.

Snapping power supply to shopping malls after 10 pm and switching off street lights during peak hours were some of the urgent measures ordered on Sunday by the Lt Governor as temporary steps to deal with the situation.

People in many areas had a harrowing time as the power cuts ranged from one to six hours in the sweltering heat. The mercury has been hovering around 45 degrees Celsius mark for the last few days.

Sharma also attacked the NDA government, saying as Delhi was under President's rule. It is responsibility of the Centre to address issues relating to the city, he said.

“Over one crore people of Delhi have been facing water and electricity scarcity these days, but nothing is being done by either the LG or the central government. Are these good days as promised by the BJP.”

“We will not allow the chief secretary to go out till he doesn't give us written assurance on these two issues," Sharma said.

Appealing people to bear with the situation, the Lt Governor had on Sunday asked citizens to come forward and help conserve energy by running their air-conditioners at 25 degree Celsius or above and take all measures at homes and offices to save electricity.

It was also decided that high mast halogen lamps in the streets, which consume more power, will be switched off during night peak hours to conserve energy.

Government establishments, including Delhi Secretariat and other government offices, universities, colleges have been advised to switch off air conditioning between 3.30 to 4.30 pm to conserve power during day peak hours.

This does not include emergency services and critical institutions such as hospitals.