Announcing this at a press conference here today, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, ``We have made DVB (Delhi Vidyut Board) squarely responsible for pilferage. There's an immediate need to crack down on industrialists and posh areas of the city for this purpose.''

Blaming the ongoing power crisis on the failure of the northern grid, Dikshit said the situation was going to be bad as long as the cold wave continues. ``The generation capacity of the turbines has been affected by the damp winter and the persistent fog,'' she said.

Dikshit said that Union Power Minister Kumaramangalam had admitted the problems in the northern grid. ``He told us there is some surplus power in the eastern grid, which is far more expensive. But we are prepared to buy that to give relief to our citizens. In the summer we will definitely keep the option of the eastern grid open,'' she said.

The CM claimed that the city's present peak power shortfall is not more 300 MW as it has supply of 2,100 MW. However, contrary to the CM's claims, the DVB put the peak hour shortfall at 1,300 MW.

``The government is chalking out a programme so that the industries and hotels do not function during peak hours. The programme will be out by tomorrow,'' Dikshit said, adding there is an urgent need to devise a proper power management scheme so that whatever is generated by the state and taken from the northern grid is utliised properly for the consumer's benefit.

On administrative lacuna, she said that steps are being made to streamline administration and make it more citizen friendly. ``We want the people's involvement in the administration and request then to give suggestions to galvanise the administration,'' she said.

To counter the rising crime graph, Dikshit said that it was decided in a meeting with the Lt-Governor, Vijai Kapoor, in which Police Commissioner V.N. Singh and Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal were also present, that vigil committees will be formed within a week. The committees will be headed by an MLA with an SHO as the convener and an ACP as a member. Besides prominent citizens, including jurors, retired civil servants, mediapersons at least two women will be members of each committee which would meet once a month.

``Crime has to be tackled at the citizens' level as well. There is a need to sensitise the people to help control crime. Delhiites also need to be made aware of traffic norms and rules of lane driving,'' she said, adding that the recent robbery at a jeweller's shop was due to the owner's negligence.

The CM also said that bio-mask burning has been stopped as it was adding fuel to the already deteriorating fog situation which is posing a big problem for the night traffic.

The announcement of setting up of 78 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in the city by June next year seems to be becoming a damp squib. The CM said that the DTC and Blueline buses cannot run on CNG. But trials are still on.

``We are trying to ensure that as many cars as possible run on CNG, helping to clear the air,'' Dikshit added.