Discoms told to give temporary power connections in a day

NEWDELHI: Delhi’s power distribution companies have been told to give temporary electricity connections within 24 hours of receiving applications.

The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), which has been getting large number of requests for exemptions from the diesel genset ban, including from diplomatic missions, issued this direction on Tuesday during a review meeting of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-ncr.

The Supreme Court-appointed panel, EPCA, banned diesel generators in Delhi two days ahead of Diwali as the plan to improve Delhi’s air quality during the winter months kicked in on October 17. The ban was among a slew of measures enforced in October, when Delhi’s air quality index fell to the ‘very poor’ category.

During the meeting, Delhi power secretary Varsha Joshi said the power department was preparing a “separate protocol” to provide temporary connec- tions to people for events such as marriages, religious gatherings as until now, demands for such connections used to come only from people undertaking construction work.

“Till the end of November, the wedding season, we would like the discoms to provide temporary connections within 24 hours and treat every such applications as emergency, with a cap on the load,” EPCA member Sunita Narain said. The EPCA also batted for reducing the refundable deposits mandatory in such temporary connection applications.

An executive of Delhi’s largest discom BSES, which owns BRPL and BYPL, said they were prepared to provide temporary connections of up to 50KW capacity within 24 hours, but requests asking for higher capacity would require time.

The embassies and consulates also approached the government for exemption from the ban as sudden blackouts due to power cuts may trigger security complications. However, the EPCA has decided not to offer any relaxation, saying inverters can also act as backups.