Govt sets up exclusive powercuts helpline

Deepti Trehan,a resident of C4,F block,in Janakpuri,has given up on the BSES helpline. Whenever there is a powercut...

Deepti Trehan,a resident of C4,F block,in Janakpuri,has given up on the BSES helpline. Whenever there is a powercut,I call them up only to be put on hold for nearly half an hour. Thereafter,they give the same answer about how rotational load-shedding is being carried out and power will be restored in half an hour. It never is of course. The worst bit though is that it isnt even a toll-free helpline, she says.

As many similar complaints poured in at the Power department,the Delhi government has now decided to set up its own helpline solely for complaints related to powercuts. Consumers can now call the 24-hour helpline on 32219304,32219305 and 32063386 to lodge their powercut grievances.

Our control room will monitor all powercut complaints received from residents, a power department official said.

Meanwhile,the discoms are up in arms against the government on the issue of powercuts.

Delhi only generates 1,000-odd megawatts of electricity on any given day. With a demand of over 4,000 megawatts,we have made arrangements to procure additional power from other states. More often than not,load-shedding has to be carried out due to unforeseen circumstances such as towers getting damaged due to storms or because a transformer is damaged. People ought to understand that powercuts are not arising due to shortage of power, a senior BSES official said.

Yet consumers will naturally blame the distribution company because thats their point of contact, the official said.

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