Delhi faces load shedding as coal crisis deepens; CM writes to Modi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting diversion of coal and gas to power plants supplying electricity to the national capital
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) on Saturday said that Delhi may see intermittent rotational load shedding in the coming days in view of the severe coal shortage facing the country.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting diversion of coal and gas to power plants supplying electricity to the national capital.
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said he is personally keeping a watch over the situation and his government is trying its best to avoid the crisis. “In the meanwhile, I wrote a letter to Hon’ble PM seeking his personal intervention,” he further wrote, attaching a copy of the letter.
TPDDL CEO Ganesh Srinivasan said coal-based power stations are left with one-two days’ stocks to meet generation requirements, as against 20 days’ as per applicable regulations. “As a result, Delhi might go through intermittent rotational load shedding,” he said.
Both Delhi and the Centre are looking at ways to arrange or divert coal for power generation, Srinivasan said.
Meanwhile, TPDDL has already started sending SMSes to its customers based in north and northwest Delhi, urging them to use electricity judiciously.
“Due to limited coal availability in generation plants across north, power supply scenario between 2pm to 6pm is at critical level. Kindly use electricity judiciously. Be a responsible citizen. Inconvenience caused is regretted,” read an SMS received by a TPDDL consumer in Burari.
Deepening Crisis
According to a report earlier this week, the coal supply crisis seems to be deepening as 64 non-pithead power plants are left with less than four days of dry fuel stocks.
The latest report from the Central Electricity Authority also showed that 25 such power plants had coal stocks for less than seven days as on October 3.
The report said 17 plants – with a cumulative installed power generation capacity of 21,325MW – had zero coal stocks while 20 power plants of 22,550MW capacity had one day of dry fuel stocks.