Power demand at year’s peak, nears record
NEW DELHI: At least four men broke into an ATM booth in south Delhi’s Satya Niketan early Wednesday, and cut into the cash dispensing unit with a gas cutter before making off with the notedispensing unit containing around ₹20 lakh, police said, adding that the kiosk was unguarded at the time of the incident.
A case was registered at the South Campus police station and several teams were formed to identify and nab the suspects. The modus operandi of the crime suggests it is the handiwork of Mewatbased criminals, the police said, as many from that region were arrested in the past for similar thefts involving the uprooting of the ATM using gas cutters.
“For now, we suspect the hand of Mewati criminals behind the ATM robbery in Satya Niketan. Several teams have been formed to nab the suspects. We got some clues and teams are working on them,” said deputy commissioner of police (south-west) Manoj C.
Manoj said around 3.30am, the police control room received a call that some persons were trying to uproot an ATM from the kiosk near Satya Niketan and that the ATM had caught fire from the gas cutter. A team from the South Campus police station rushed to the incident spot but by then the suspects had fled with the cash unit, police said.
The crime spot inspection team and forensic experts have examined the booth and lifted fingerprints and other evidence from the scene. The CCTV camera footage from inside and outside the kiosk is also being checked.
“At least four persons were captured by the cameras. Their faces were not visible as they were masked themselves and wore caps. The investigators are scanning CCTV cameras along the possible routes that the suspects took,” said a senior police officer associated with the probe.
In April, the special cell of the Delhi Police after a brief gunfight had arrested three members of a Mewat-based gang, including its kingpin Imran, for their role in uprooting an ATM in south Delhi’s Badarpur on March 31. They stole the cash-dispensing machine, which had around ₹34 lakh, the police said.
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Capital sweltered once again on Wednesday, with a heatwave taking grip in some parts of the city, despite the weather office’s predictions of a cloudy sky and light showers a day ago.
The city recorded a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal, and above Tuesday’s 39.6°C, when the Capital beat a 12-day long heatwave streak.
Four of the city’s 11 weather stations recorded a heatwave, which the India Meteorological Department defines as a condition of air temperature where the maximum temperature in the plains touch 40°C, and the departure from the normal temperature is between 4.5 degrees and 6.4 degrees. For a severe heatwave, the departure has to be above 6.4 degrees.
Mungeshpur, on Delhi’s northwestern border with Haryana, was the hottest spot in the Capital once again, with the maximum temperature jumping to 45.1°C.
Weather experts said thunderstorm activity remained confined to parts of Uttar Pradesh such as Mathura, Hathras and Aligarh.
A trough persisting over this region is likely to move down towards Delhi, they said.
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Capital clocked a peak power demand of 7,334MW on Wednesday -the highest so far this year and the maximum ever recorded in June, senior power department officials said.
“Today (Wednesday) at 3:35pm, the city’s peak power demand clocked the season’s highest of 7,334MW. It was also the highest ever in the month of June. Cooling load is the main reason behind Delhi’s increasing
“A fresh western disturbance, an induced cyclonic circulation over Punjab and moisture-laden easterly winds will provide relief from the heat from Thursday,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (climate change and meteorology), Skymet Weather.
He said pre-monsoon activity in tropical and sub-tropical regions is a sudden development power load. In fact, according to estimates, almost around 50% of Delhi’s power demand in summers is because of the cooling load through ACS, desert coolers and fans,” said a senior power official.
Delhi has been going through a punishing heatwave over the past few weeks with the maximum temperature on Wednesday being recorded at 42.2 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 29.4 degrees, two notches above normal, due to high temperatures and humidity and a micro prediction of such development is difficult.
Such events are not associated with a pre-defined or prominent weather system such as a lowpressure area or a depression that could help weather forecasters predict the area of impact with good probability, he said.
The weather office issued a according to India Meteorological data.
There has been little rain for the city this summer as well.
According to power department records, it is also the first yellow alert, warning of thundershowers and gusty winds around afternoon or evening in the Capital on Wednesday. However, the city recorded no such activity on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a cloud cover had cocooned Delhi, causing the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory — Delhi’s base weather station — to drop time this year that the peak power demand has crossed the 7,000 MW in June. The peak single day demand for June last year was 6,921MW which was recorded on June 30. In 2020, the demand hit the peak of 6,314 MW on June 29 and in 2019, it was 6,769MW on June 29.
“In fact, before June 9 this year, Delhi’s peak power demand had never crossed the 7,000MW mark in June. However, on May 19 this year, it clocked 7,070MW. So far, it has already crossed 7,000MW six times in June this year and also below 40°C for the first time this month.
IMD said consecutive western disturbances and lower-level easterlies predicted in the coming days are likely to keep the heat at bay.
It has issued a yellow alert, warning of thundershowers or light rain over the next five days. The mercury is predicted to drop to 34°C by Monday, IMD said.
The weather will become clear after June 21 and dry westerly winds will commence but a steep rise in temperature is not predicted, the department said.
The monsoon is expected to arrive in Delhi around the usual date -- June 27 -- or a day or two in advance, they added.
Last year, IMD forecast that the monsoon would arrive in Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date. However, it reached only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years.
The Capital has recorded a maximum temperature of 42°C and above on 27 days so far this summer season, the highest number of such days since 2012, according to data from the weather office.
In 2012, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius or above on 30 days. The number of such days was 35 in 2010, the highest in the 1951-2022 period, the data showed.
BEFORE JUNE 9 THIS YEAR, DELHI’S PEAK POWER DEMAND HAD NEVER CROSSED THE 7,000MW MARK IN JUNE
once in May,” a senior power department official said.
Delhi has met an all-time high power demand of 7,409MW recorded on July 2, 2019.
This year, the government has projected that the peak demand may hit 8,200MW.
According to data, every single day of this month, Delhi’s power demand has crossed the 6000 MW. In 2021, it crossed the 6,000 MW mark only on nine occasions throughout the month; for five times in June 2020, and thrice in June 2019.