DHVBN writes to EPCA over banning gensets under GRAP
GURUGRAM: In order to check the poor air quality of Gurugram under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) by October 15, the diesel generators in Gurugram should not have been allowed to function.
Taking cognisance of the poor power infrastructure in various parts of the city, the officials of the Dakshin Haryana Bijl Vitran Nigam (DHVBN) have written to members of Environment Pollution and Control Authority appraising them of the challenges of the banning of the diesel generators.
They have highlighted that how it has been difficult for them to set up the power infrastructure in new residential sectors of Gururam where the builders have not paid them the external development charge (EDC).
On October 12, Millennium Post had reported that there are 76 residential colonies spread in the sectors of Sectors 58 - 81 in Gurugram that do not have the 24-hour power supply. For a city where many parts still reel under power cuts of 3-6 hours residents still rely on diesel gensets for their power needs.
While the cost of power supplied ranged from Rs 7 to Rs 8 per unit, service providers of diesel generators are charging their customers an exorbitant amount ranging from Rs 11 to Rs 15 per unit.
Worryingly, this is in addition to the households that are already dependent on the diesel generators for their regular power supply. The usage of diesel generators is one of the main reasons why the pollution levels in Gurugram has not seized.
In order to curb spiraling levels of air pollution in Gurugram, there were plans to phase out the generators running on diesel and replace it with CNG run gensets.
The move will be adopted under graded actions system by the environment pollution control authority (EPCA).
Information from RTI had recently revealed that there are more than 10,000 diesel generators that are operational in the city.
Besides a large number of households, many industrial units are also forced to rely on the diesel-run generators due to the erratic power supply.