New Delhi: Hit by one of the worst-ever power crisis in the capital, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday set a four-day deadline for the power distribution companies (discoms) to ease the shortage or face strong action, bluntly telling them to treat the present situation as their "internal emergency".
Ticking off the power distribution companies after there was no let up in angry protests, Dikshit also held out hopes for an improvement in the power situation by Monday saying the Central government has agreed to allocate an additional 150 MW power to the capital. Welcome pre-monsoon showers in the evening also raised prospects of the situation easing.
Dikshit's stern warning came at a meeting she convened with senior officials of the power department and three discoms at her official residence.
"I and the government have given them a deadline of four days. If situation does not improve within the deadline then we will have to initiate strong action," Dikshit told reporters after the meeting.
Asking the discoms to treat the present situation as their internal emergency, Dikshit specifically asked BSES to improve their system of grievance redressal and announce schedule of load shedding.
The long power cuts coupled with water shortage meanwhile continued to haunt the citizens for the fifth day on Sunday even as the peak demand came down to 3,957 MW from Saturday's all time high of 4,275 MW.
Power department officials attributed the decline in demand to the afternoon showers and holiday. They said the total load-shedding in the city was around 200 MW.