New Delhi: The Delhi Government has said that shops and malls don't have to shut early to save power.
The government added that conserving electricity needs to be voluntary.
On Friday, as the Capital recorded its hottest day of the season, Delhiites battled the sweltering heat and braved the massive power outages, the state government decided to cut power supply to markets from 1930 hrs (IST) to deal 'effectively' with an acute crunch.
Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf had made the announcement on Friday after reviewing the energy situation and figuring that the capital is falling short of 600 MW everyday.
The ministry had ordered all shops to down shutters by the evening hour and has urged Delhiites to not switch on Air Conditioners before 2100 hrs (IST).
A group of traders met Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit after the state government announced stringent measures to tackle power crisis.
They emerged out of the meet with a sigh of relief when they were told that trading shops and business establishments in Delhi will remain open as they did earlier.
Sheila Dikshit told the group that there was no reason for them to worry.
In fact, the power minister has now said that Himachal Pradesh will provide 109 MW of power to Delhi.
Yusuf's announcement was a clear indication that Delhi wanted to follow the Mumbai model.
When the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) expected a gap of 250-275 MW during May, it asked consumers to reduce their consumption.
The MERC also urged distribution companies not to supply power to guzzlers like neon signboards and warned that action would be taken against defaulters.
Only vital installations and essential services were spared from the order of reducing consumption.
On the other hand, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) is yet to take any step for asking the discoms to at least give out some power cut schedule as consumers are terribly upset by the fact that the supply keeps snapping throughout the day.
No 'Sahara' for Lucknow
The situation in other parts of north India isn't too bright either.
The Uttar Pradesh government has directed all business establishments and shops to close down by 2000 hrs (IST).
With the demand for power in UP going as high as 7500 megawatt a day, the state government has resorted to desperate measures to save power.
It has ordered that lights in all public parks would be switched off after 2300 hrs (IST).
A decision has also been taken to impose a ban on neon signs and glow signboards.
But authorities maintain that without intervention from the Centre, the crisis cannot be resolved soon.
In Hazaratganj, a buzzing market in the heart of state capital Lucknow, the trader community is outraged.
Whereas the local traders have been asked to shut shop during the prime-time consumer hours, shopping malls like Sahara have been exempt.
"This is not fair. The traders are reeling inder losses. If you allow the Sahara mall to function, why not us?" a trader Satya Jeet Sahu says
Earlier, the traders were happy. The government allowed the shops to open round the clock. But the new order has come as a surprise to them.
"The trader community should be brought into confidence. None of the parties – the government and traders should be at loss. We are not against it,” Secretary Traders Association, Hazaratganj, Kamal Bhatiya says.
It's been more than a month since UP began facing its power woes. But the state government has been quick to shift the blame to Centre for the mess
"We get no help from Central government. The power generation in UP is less and there’s massive shortfall,” Chairman, UP Power Corporation, Ashok Kumar Khurana says.
Kanpur invokes 'Goddess of electricity'
It's the same situation in the nearby Kanpur city. Congress organised rallies against the government for its failure to normalise the power situation.
But, disillusioned with the government's inability to solve the power crises, people in Kanpur took to streets with an idol of a Goddess who they say rules 'electricity'.
The traders also said that they would roam the markets chanting hymns to appease the Electricity Goddess until the problem is resolved.
(With inputs from Prabhakar Kumar and Abhishek Patni)
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