Delhi: Year’s hottest day at 43°C, worse to come

NEW DELHI: The heat is on, and it's only going to get worse. Delhi sweltered under a maximum temperature of 43.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the highest for the season. Oppressively hot winds forced people indoors, leaving shopping centres wearing a deserted look. Not surprisingly, power demand shot up, peaking at 4,823 MW, the highest so far this year. 

Worse, the Met office has forecast a further rise over the next few days. "On Friday, the maximum temperature is likely to be 45 degrees Celsius," said a senior Met official. The hot spell is expected to continue till next Tuesday. 

with thanks : TOI : LINK for detailed news.

AMENDMENTS TO MCD GUIDELINES FOR INSTALLATION OF GATES FOR SECURITY PURPOSE IN COLONIES

Dear Sir,

 

The Priyadarshini Vihar RWA and several other RWAs have raised the issue of 'Empowerment of RWAs' several times in the past.  Nothing has happened so far.  A related issue is the faulty guidelines of the MCD for installation of gates for security purpose in the colonies.  These guidelines were laid down by the MCD in June 2007 (on the direction of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court), without consulting the RWAs or the housing societies which are directly affected by these guidelines, and should have been consulted in the first place.  

 

As victims of these faulty guidelines, we suggest following amendments and request the Joint Front to take up the matter with the Commissioner, EDMC on behalf of its members RWAs, who, I am sure will agree with us:

 

1.    Clause 3.d) -  There is a total ban on erecting gates on back lanes which do not open towards roads outside  the colony.  Most of the crimes including thefts and burglaries are perpetrated through these lanes only.         Hence, security gates would be allowed on back lanes also.

 

2.    Clause 3.m) -  RWAs have been given the responsibility of appointing watch and ward staff at their own cost.  In practice, such arrangements are made by residents of the individual lanes by collecting funds. RWAs have not been vested with any authority to force the residents to make contribution for watch and ward arrangements.  There are several families in our colony who do not pay.  So, this authority needs to be coupled with authority.  Timings of closing ad opening of gates should also be flexible in accordance with seasons and other factors.

 

3.    Clause 3. p), q) and r) -  Onerous mandatory responsibilities have been  put on RWAs which need to be  reconsidered.  They should dovetail with ground realities.

 

Above suggestions are only illustrative and not exhaustive.  As a matter of fact, it requires a lot of brain storming by RWAs and functionaries of EDMC to arrive at practicable guidelines meet both the security concerns of colonies and administrative concerns of EDMC. 

 

Other RWAs are welcome to make suggestions / comments.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ram Gupta

General Secretary

Priyadarshini Vihar RWA

District level Bhagidari meeting notice

The District level Bhagidari meeting  in District east under the chairmanship of DC ( East), will be held on 29th of May, 2012 at 3 pm in the Bhagidari hall of Dist East Office complex, L M Bandh, Shastri nagar, Delhi - 110031. Please attend.

Another hike !

New Delhi Municipal Council areas may pay more for power

NEW DELHI: Tariff paid by Delhiites living in NMDC areas may see a sharp rise in the coming power tariff order of financial year 2011-12. According to assurances given by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) in last year's tariff order, the regulator has said they planned to bring NDMC tariff on a par with the rest of the city, thus ending the monopoly enjoyed by many VIPs. However, whether this actually happens or not will be seen only when the regulator announces revised tariff for the current financial year in another six to eight weeks.

According to sources, inspite of the 11% increase in NDMC tariff due to fuel surcharge applicable from May 14 for the next three months, the overall tariff of NMDC is still considerably lower than that of private discoms BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna and Tata Delhi Power.

According to estimates, the tariff paid by consumers living in areas supplied power by the private discoms is still 17%-21% lower than that of NDMC consumers. "While NDMC has seen the largest fuel adjustment cost hike of 11% and the private discoms got a hike of 4%-7%, the overall impact does not differ much. While current rates under NDMC are from Rs 2 to Rs 4.35 per unit depending on the various slabs, each having an increase of 11% due to fuel surcharge to be levied till August 14," said a source.

with thanks : TOI : LINK for detailed news.

India's Vanishing Girls : NDTV

New tariff order to mandate use of 2% green energy

NEW DELHI: Alongside the revised domestic tariff for financial year 2012-13, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) is all set to start the process for green energy. In the upcoming tariff order, the regulator is going to announce a 2% renewable energy obligation for Delhi discoms, a move which has already been delayed considerably and has many consumers worried about the costs involved.

It means that discoms will be obliged to procure a mandatory 2% power through renewable energy sources like sun, wind, geo-thermal, municipal waste, among others. Out of this 2%, procuring 0.1% solar power is mandated and the rest can be from various sources. Already, many states in the country like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are harnessing a considerably quantum of renewable energy.

Apart from views on domestic tariff, the regulator had also sought opinions and feedback from consumers on solar tariff as it is all set to become a reality. While some consumers expressed worry that the 2% RPO could become a costly proposition for them, the consensus in the hearing was in favour. "Stakeholders more or less realized that renewable energy has to be promoted and is part of the national policy. The cost is also coming down and solar energy, for example, is becoming competitive and has gone down from Rs 18 per unit to about Rs 8-9 per unit,'' an official said.

Discoms said that while they were all for renewable energy, procurement of 0.1% solar energycould be a problem depending on availability, and should be done in phases. They asked the regulator to urge the government to bring out a rooftop policy.

with thanks : times of India : LINK for detailed news.

Power tariff hiked 11% in New Delhi Municipal Council areas

NEW DELHI: VVIPs in Delhi will now have to dish out more for power. Two weeks after announcing new fuel price adjustment (FPA) surcharge for private distribution companies, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has announced 11% FPA for New Delhi Municipal Council (NMDC) to be applicable from May 14 to August 14, 2012. With this, power tariff in NDMC areas may have seen a significant increase but overall power tariff will still be lower than those paid by consumers in other parts of the city under private discoms.

The new tariff will be applicable in residential areas like Lutyen's Bunglow Zone, Sarojini Nagar, Malcha Marg, Lodi Road, Chanakyapuri, Khan Market, Kaka Nagar, Sujan Singh Park, Sunder Nagar, Golf Links, Jor Bagh, among other places, which come under NDMC and will be charged on energy consumed from May 14 to August 14. The commission received submissions from NDMC on May 3 for new FPA after the previous surcharge expired on April 30. "Government-run NDMC along with all three private discoms had been allowed a 5% FPA from February to April. This time based on their submissions, each discom has been allowed a different FPA based on their expenses and power purchase accounts from January to March, 2012. On the basis of the information submitted by NDMC and considering first power purchase bills and billed amounts reflecting in the auditor's certificate, the regulator approved FPA charges of 11%,'' said regulator chairperson P D Sudhakar.

with thanks : Times Of India : LINK for detailed news.

Traffic Jam problem in Krishna nagar

DELHI TRAFFIC POLICE : Please do something for Traffic Jam problem in Krishna nagar, F block, Mandir marg on Road number 57. Many a times, we had requested a Red light at Happy School crossing, but so far no success, as the officials get transfered at very short gaps. This is a 2 years old video & the situation now is more grim.

East Delhi RWAs Joint Front

( A federation of RWAs )

www.RWABhagidari.blogspot.in

www.RWABhagidari.com

Power demand surges in Delhi, discoms brace for peak summer

NEW DELHI: Power demand in the city is slowly rising. While there is some time before last year's peak demand of 5,028 MW is surpassed, discoms say the power consumption has considerably peaked in the last several days and is already more than the same period last year. 

Officials say that if the trend continues, then in all likelihood the power demand will reach its peak much sooner than expected. 

In BSES Yamuna Power Limited's (BYPL) area of east and central Delhi, the power demand in May itself has surpassed all previous records, officials said. On May 10, the power demand in BYPL's area touched an all-time high of 1237 MW, its highest ever, surpassing its earlier record of 1195 MW. The peak demand on May 11 was 4633 MW - 5% more than the corresponding figure of 4423 MW last year. 

Ramesh Narayanan, CEO, BYPL said, "The tremendous growth being witnessed in east Delhi is the reason behind this incessant growth of power demand in the area. Consumers should remember that it takes almost 1kg of coal to produce just 1 unit of power. The peak power demand in BYPL area, which reached 1195MW during the summer of 2011, is expected to be around the 1350 MW in the coming summer months. To avoid power shortage this summer, BYPL has made arrangements for around 1450 MW of power. Though primarily this power is through long-term arrangements, a part of it (about 150-200 MW) is also through power-banking arrangement with other states.''

with thanks : Times of India : LINK

EDRWAsJF met MCD East Mayor Dr Annapurna Mishra