Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Power tariff set to soar in Delhi

 
Delhiites may soon see a major hike in their electricity bills. 

The Chief Minister of the National Capital, Ms Shiela Dikshit, said on Monday that power distribution companies would soon revise the electricity tariff. 

The three private distribution companies - Tata Delhi Power, BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna – have sought a tariff hike of 18 per cent, 20 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. 

Last year, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had allowed the companies to raise tariff by 22 per cent. 

However, the tariff increase allowed last year was not enough to cover the gap of Rs 6,000 crore spent by the three distribution utilities. 

They could cover only Rs 1,200 crore in the first year and the remaining Rs 4,800 crore was to be collected over next three years. 

The private discoms have now demanded a hike excluding last year’s losses. 

According to industry watchers, DERC may allow a tariff increase of around 20-22 per cent. 

Meanwhile, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) on Monday said it would invest Rs 16 crore to set up a 66/11 kV grid substation. 

“With an initial capacity of 50 mVa, which can be ramped up to 75 mVa, this grid sub-station will provide relief to over one lakh customers in areas such as Mayur Vihar Phase III,” it said in a statement. 

with thanks : Business Line : LINK 

Monday, June 25, 2012

Get ready to shell out more on electricity in Delhi

 Get ready to shell out more on electricity in Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 25: Indicating a substantial hike in power tariff, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said power regulator DERC will have to take a realistic view of the situation while finalising the new rates.

Delhi has been reeling under severe outages for last four days after state-run NHPC cut supply of 200 MW power to BSES for failing to pay up dues of over Rs 225 crore while another generation firm Damodar Valley Corporation has threatened to stop 280 MW supply to the discom if it did not make payment of around Rs 330 crore.

“ We are waiting for the DERC to announce the (tariff) order. Everybody knows about the situation. I hope the decision of the regulatory body will be based on realistic view of the current situation,” Dikshit said when asked about the power situation in the city.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) is likely to announce the new power tariff in a day or two. 

with thanks : INDIA TV : LINK for detailed news.

Discoms to push for steep hike in tariff

NEW DELHI: The new power tariff is expected early next month, and recent developments indicate that discoms are pushing for a steep hike in domestic tariff. The Reliance-backed BSES discoms were in the spotlight last week for defaulting in payments to at least three generating companies, and have stopped getting supply from one. Sources said all this has led the BSES discoms to pursue their case for a hike with the regulator.

The timing is significant as the city's power demand is touching a new high almost every other day. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission is also on the verge on announcing the tariff, making last-minute changes. The BSES discoms have put the blame for defaults squarely on "unrealistic tariff", which they say has plunged them into a financial crisis. A source said the discoms deserve the hike that they have been claiming for and that without it the city could face blackouts. 


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

We’re killing our water resources

Some day soon, people from cities will have to begin relocating because they will have run out of water. Many water bodies are drying out due to over-exploitation triggered by unsustainable growth

Mounting public anger over Delhi Jal Board’s colossal failure to re-haul the obsolete water distribution system, hamstrung by rusty leaking pipes and thefts, is fuelled by growing suspicion of a nexus between the concerned functionaries and private tankers. Many are now compelled to buy water at high cost to meet their needs. It is the same in Gurgaon, Faridabad and contiguous townships.

If western Uttar Pradesh NCR towns are as yet not afflicted by the crisis, it is because of the forcible diversion of Ganga waters via canals, first built by the British, and then, expanded by their native successors. A massive pipe also carries such water from the controversial Tehri Dam to Delhi and UP-NCR. Hindon is exploited as well while Southern Haryana is solely dependent on Yamuna, local lakes and groundwater.

But the latter two are fast disappearing as indiscriminate colonisation gains alarming momentum. Against this backdrop, for Haryana policy-makers to propose concretising the remnant of forest cover in the stretch of the Aravallis running through this arid state is criminal. Certainly, penal action would be warranted if this is allowed, in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Proponents of the reckless scheme argue that the green cover is not large enough to qualify as a forest. But visionary administrators, in a region that suffers badly from paucity of green cover and water, should do their utmost to conserve whatever remains, rather than destroying it.

Early experiences of enchanted forests, obtained vicariously through fairytales and Panchtantra, are realised on venturing into the breathtaking environs of Mangerbani in Faridabad district. Ishani Dutta’s film, The Sacred Forest, brings it alive, documenting its sanctity and immense relevance for the present, as much as the awaiting doom. One learns that the Who’s Who in the country have stakes, with fragmented land-holdings being sold by individual owners. An ancient sacred forest, protected by the local Gujjars for over five centuries, it is self-renewing as the inhabitants of nearby villages still obey their guru, Gadaria Baba’s directive, never to break a twig, or harm any living creature. It is as Mr RP Balwan, former Conservator of Forests, Gurgaon, says, the last Dhau forest in the state. Filmmaker and naturalist Pradeep Kishen has extensively identified rare species. The forest harbours itinerant leopards, hyenas, jackals, hares, deer, mongoose, reptiles, and a vast variety of birds. Conservationists consider it an irreplaceable biosphere.


with thanks : The Pioneer : LINK for detailed news report.

All ministers to attend largest bhagidari meet

NEW DELHI: With the assembly polls due in 2013, the Sheila Dikshit government has decided to hold its largest-ever bhagidari workshop in the capital from June 26 to collect people's feedback on local governance and its deficiency.

Over 3,500 residents welfare associations have been invited at the eight-day event to be held at Talkatora Stadium from June 26 to July 6. In the past few years, the government had held bhagidari — citizens' partnership in governance — workshops with barely a few hundred RWAs. The last workshop in July 2011 saw participation of around 600 RWAs.

The Congress-led government, which is still recovering from the shocking results of the municipal polls in April, has asked Asian Centre for Organization Research and Development (ACORD), the agency preparing the feedback forms for the workshop, to frame questions that bring out people's expectations from the government and also its deficiencies, sources said.

In a fresh move, Dikshit has asked at least one cabinet minister to attend the workshop everyday. The schedule, giving details of days and districts for each minister, has already been sent to them. The Congress MLAs have also been asked to go to the meet.

The government has also added three more departments — education, social welfare and food and civil supplies — under the purview of the bhagidari policy adopted in 2002. Other authorities like Delhi Jal Board, MCD, PWD, NDMC, Delhi Police and transport, environment and revenue departments will continue to take part in it. The power supplier discoms will be part of the workshop.

According to the ministers' schedule, the workshop for South and Southwest districts will be attended by Kiran Walia, East district by A K Walia, Northeast district by A S Lovely, Northwest district by Rajkumar Chauhan, West district by Ramakant Goswami, North, Central and New Delhi districts by Haroon Yusuf. 


with thanks : Times of India : LINK

Sunday, June 24, 2012

But why the Power is getting expensive ?

CM says : "Let's face it. Power is getting expensive and the only way to sort it out would be a tariff hike. We are waiting for the DERC order to implement it." What you have to say ? Please mail to :
rwabhagidari@yahoo.in
www.RWABhagidari.com
www.RWABhagidari.blogspot.in

Power supply hit, brace for dark summer in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Friday signalled a double whammy of low power supply and high demand for the summer: from Thursday-Friday midnight, the National Hydro Power Corporation stopped supply to Reliance's BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna discoms, allegedly for payment default, while the capital notched up its highest-ever power consumption of 5,330MW.

There were power cuts across south Delhi and in parts of central and west Delhi.

CM Sheila Dikshit assured the crisis would be sorted out soon. "Let's face it. Power is getting expensive and the only way to sort it out would be a tariff hike. We are waiting for the DERC order to implement it."

"Whatever is the shortfall from DVC, we will meet through the Bawana plant," the chief minister said. "Thought this will be expensive, we will not let Delhi suffer."

There were power cuts across most of south Delhi and in parts of central and west Delhi. A technical snag in Delhi Transco's 100 MVA transformer in Okhla led to widespread power cuts in Kalkaji, Kailash Colony, Alaknanda, CR Park, Greater Kailash I and Nehru Place among other areas.

Panchsheel, Dwarka and Gulmohar Park too reported power cuts in the afternoon hours. "There was no electricity for close to two hours in the afternoon. The situation was similar on Thursday as well. The inverter could not support the air-conditioners and we had to sweat it out with just a ceiling fan," complained Anjana Kumar, a resident of Kalkaji. A Transco official said the sweltering heat triggered a technical snag that took a few hours to set right.


with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK for detailed news.

Central data backs Haryana claim on water

On a day the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) continued to claim shortage at the Haiderpur treatment plant, readings by the Centre’s monitoring agency have established that Haryana is providing more water to Delhi than the rated capacity of both the Haiderpur and Wazirabad plants.

 A DJB official on Friday said the water level at the Haiderpur treatment plant remained low, resulting in a shortage of about 15 million gallons per day (MGD).

On the other hand, the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB), the central agency entrusted with the task of monitoring the flow of water between the two states, has reported that Haryana is providing more water to Delhi than its due share.

As per Central Water Commission (CWC) data, on Friday, Delhi received 213.5 MGD water at Haiderpur while the production was pegged at about 202 MGD, said a UYRB official.


with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK for detailed news.

DJB slams civic agency’s water report

The Delhi Jal Board on Thursday hit back at the North Delhi Municipal Corporation which had claimed that nearly 50 per cent of water supplied in its area was contaminated and unfit for drinking. 

The Jal board questioned the methodology that the North Corporation adopted in conducting the tests, saying it didn’t collect the samples when water was being supplied, but took it from stored water. 

“With a network of more than 16,000 km of water pipeline, on an average 25 to 30 complaints related to local contamination issues are received per day, mainly from densely-populated and unplanned areas. DJB always takes up such complaints on priority and they are immediately referred to the Quality Control wing, which gets the samples lifted from the affected pockets and remedial actions are carried out further,” the DJB said. 

The DJB said the corporation “has not carried out joint sampling, in spite of repeated requests”. 

Alleging that the water quality survey was done with malafide intent of raising alarm, the DJB in a statement said: “The gist of the report is that MCD collected 258 samples from different areas of Delhi, of which more than 50 per cent samples were claimed to be unfit for drinking. DJB has not yet received the copy of the report and, therefore, cannot respond specifically to the issue.”

“DJB has a standard process for testing the quality of drinking water, and the water is tested for physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters. DJB carries out water sample tests by an independent unit headed by Director, Treatment and Quality Control (DTQC), the sample testing unit of DJB,” the statement said. 


with thanks : Indian Express : LINK for detailed news.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Massive Power Cuts in East Delhi from 30th June ?

There was a news in various TV channels that East Delhi may face severe power crisis with massive power cuts from 30th June. The reason being :

As per PPA signed by BYPL with NTPC, BYPL is required to ensure availability of requisite value of Letter of Credit ( LC ),and shall ensure that LC will remain valid for all times during the entire validity of PPA and shall renew the same atleast 30 days before the expiry of its term, each time.

However, BYPL has failed to maintain the LC for the requisite amount and to extend the validity of the LC for the period as per PPA, and therefore, NTPC shall have the right to regulate & sell BYPL's  allocation of Power to the third party ( ies ), at the risk & cost of BYPL.

NTPC has been following up with BYPL for renewal of the LC with validity upto 30.06.2012 failing which NTPC would be constrained to regulate the power supply in line with the provisions of the CERC Regulations on ' Regulation of Power supply 2010'.

As a result there is a fear that once NTPC starts allocation of Power to third parties after 30.06.2012, Entire East Delhi will face massive Power cuts. 

We hereby request to the Delhi Govt. & DERC that, they must ensure, that East Delhi gets the proper supply regularly.

B S Vohra
East Delhi RWAs Joint Front
( A Federation of RWAs )
www.RWABhagidari.blogspot.in
www.RWABhagidari.com

Meet with Mayor !


Really I missed due to Society's compulsion, as I had to brief a lawyer re. the case coming up to day in RCS.Good round up. I would like to know discreetly what are the grievances he had posed before the Mayor.

Hope you have since received a copy of the Memo. sent through mail yesterday. While you could retain one copy, for record, the other one, kindly take out one and send it to Mayor's attention. Can you e-mail address of the Mayor so that I could also send one direct.

Thanks for all the onerous duties but highly appreciable and commendable one, you are performing. 

With best wishes and regards,

TK Balu
Secretary/RBECHS/Anand Vihar


Dear Mr Balu,
We too missed you, as well Mr Rajesh Aggarwal, who could not join us due to illhealth of his Sister in law in Bangalore. Inspite of our best efforts, we could not reach Mr Mukesh Ghumman, whose mobile was always out of reach. Anyhow, almost all the members were present in the meeting with Mayor that lasted almost 2 hours. All the RWAs spoke directly to the Mayor and submitted the request letter to her. Your letter will also be forwarded.
Regards
B S Vohra