10-Day Deadline To Fix Delhi's Crisis, Vows Power Minister Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Sweltering heat in Delhi and massive power outages have the capital begging for relief.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal  called an emergency meeting with top officials in Delhi today to discuss the crisis. He said a deadline of 10 days has been set for to restore three major transmission lines that were damaged during a recent dust-storm. (North India Grid Had Load Loss of 8,000 Mega Watts in Friday's Dust Storm)

The maximum today was 45.2 degrees. Last evening, parts of the city spent six hours without electricity. (Heat Wave: Send Your Photos & Videos Here)

The Met Department says the heat wave will extend till at least Thursday; that news was accompanied by a worrying forecast of an inadequate monsoon. (Delhi Heatwave Prompts Emergency Measures to Conserve Power)

The power shortage has turned into a perfect political storm with parties trading charges to fix responsibility. The minister said the Congress government, which was in charge of Delhi for 15 years, is to blame. "The crux of the problem is clearly the lack of decision-making, lack of investment in infrastructure and lack of forward planning since 2002," Mr Goyal said. (Watch)

However, the BJP was targeted by the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, which led the Delhi government for a 49-day period early this year.

"BJP neither able to handle power crisis nor forming government nor allowing elections in Delhi. Completely irresponsible," tweeted AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. (Read: Arvind Kejriwal Attacks BJP Over Power Crisis, Government Formation)

Manish Sisodia, AAP leader and former Delhi minister, led a group of his party's state legislators in a protest this morning at the home of senior BJP leader and union minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

"The BJP is in power at the Centre and Vardhan is a Union Minister as well as  the Delhi BJP President. It is the responsibility of the ruling party at the Centre to address the problem of power supply in Delhi," said Mr Sisodia.