NEW DELHI, June 25: Enraged Paharganj residents blocked traffic outside the New Delhi Railway Station, protesting against power cuts in the area yesterday. They raised slogans against the local corporator and Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) authorities. While officers from the Paharganj police station were sent to the spot, they returned with reports that there was no violence. DVB officials claim that because of the humid weather excessive use of AC's has started once again, causing the voltage to dip and leading to the power cuts. Scores of complaints came from East Patel Nagar and Rajender Place. They claimed that they had no forum for redressal as there were no DVB officials around when they wanted to register complaints. While one Patel Nagar resident claimed there had been no electricity in his area for 40 hours, another said: ``This has been going on for a month now. We haven't had a night's good sleep. And there is no response from the DVB. I even tried calling the Lt Governor, but he doesn't come to thephone.''
Yogesh Sharma, a resident of Vikaspuri, said: ``We have no power since 2 a.m. last night,''. Though we repeatedly called the complaint centre, there was no response. We called the chairman's office, but there was no response even from him.'' R.N. Sharma from Malviya Nagar said the power cuts, which lasted almost nine hours at a stretch, had been going on for more than a week. But the situation has improved today.
``The light went off this morning at 10 a.m. and hasn't yet come on,'' said Gulab Rai from Lajpat Nagar. ``I then called up the CM's office and spoke to his secretary. He told me that he would call me back. He did call back, but only to tell me that the cause of the breakdown was low voltage. I asked him when it would come on, but he had no answer.''
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
