Ghaziabad reeling under acute power shortage

GHAZIABAD - Several areas of Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of the national capital, are facing a severe power crunch with some places getting electricity for just two hours in a day.

While the posh colonies of Rajnagar, Kavinagar, Sashtrinagar, Govindpuram, Ashoknagar, Vasundhara, Vaishali, Kaushambhi and Indirapuram are getting 12 hours power supply, many rural areas are getting just two hours of power. The tehsil headquarters of Modinagar, Muradnagar, Hapur and Garhmukteswar are getting four hours power.

According to villagers contacted by this IANS correspondent, some villages in the interiors are not getting any power supply at all.

The residents welfare associations and federation officials said they do not recall such a grim power situation in the near past.

Col. Tejendra Pal Singh Tyagi, president of the Federation of Ghaziabad Residents Welfare Associations, complained that the power corporation employees were non-cooperative with the public.

According to Vipin Tyagi, a medical practitioner, due to the non-availability of power people were running diesel based power generators that spew smoke, which was having an adverse effect on peoples’ health. He claimed these factors were causing problems to hypertension and asthma patients.

The lack of electricity has also affected water supply. “Families are forced to wash utensils and clothes with minimum water and forgo baths, despite the scorching heat. The city has been converted into a hell,” said Rakesh Bhalla, president of Kaushambhi Residents Welfare Association.

District Magistrate Hridesh Kumar, faced with the barrage of complaints, said in his defence: “I admit there is a problem on the power supply front. The power corporation employees informed us that the city is getting 18 hours power supply while rural areas are getting 13 hours, but I have come to know that the power supply is not meeting parameters and frequent cuts are being reported.”