Power cuts playing spoilsport in Delhi-NCR

Diesel gensets hummed across NCR as power cuts greeted the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to check air pollution on the first day of its rollout on Tuesday, showing why the measure to avoid the polluting devices is ill-conceived before the Haryana and UP governments put infrastructure in place to supply power round the clock, uninterrupted.

In the hundreds of housing societies in Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad, though, there was uncertainty through the day as local administrations issued no clear orders, and some builders in Noida served notices to residents that DG sets wouldn't be used except for lifts.

The confusion, as TOI had reported in its October 14 edition, stems from an order from the Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority a week ago banning use of DG sets in Delhi and Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad, from October 15 . Unlike Delhi, NCR cities don't have reliable, round-the-clock power supply and bank heavily on gensets.

In Ghaziabad, the Federation of Apartment Owners Association said it would launch a protest if the ban on DG sets was imposed because it was impractical. And in Gurgaon, societies that don't have a power connection asked what they were supposed to do if gensets were not allowed. "Our society has got a letter from Rera directing the developer to provide 24x7 power through an alternative source till power connection is provided to the society," said Vipin, a resident of ILD Green, a township in Sector 37C.