Power board faces staff shortage in Faridabad, unscheduled cuts a routine

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, July 19

With an average of four to six hours of unscheduled power cuts daily, residents of various localities here are at the receiving end.

According to the sources in the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), which looks after the power supply and distribution in the district, the main factors behind the erratic supply are reported to be acute shortage of staff and raw material.

“While the normal duration of an unscheduled power cut could be between three to four hours, it could extend up to 10 or 12 hours in case of heavy rain or windstorm,” said Ajay Malik, general secretary, Residents’ Welfare Association, Sector 21A, adding that the problem was perhaps due to poor or substandard material and equipment in the distribution system, resulting in breakdowns.

We had even offered financial contributions for the replacement of faulty equipment, but no relief has been given so far, he said.

“Many transformers have been functional with worn-out conductors, lines and jumpers, leading to faults on a frequent basis. Calling up the Lineman or the Junior Engineer becomes a task if one wants to inquire about how long the power cut will be during the night as their phones are always busy or remain unattended,” said Varun Sheokand, a resident.

“Though the overall situation is not a cause for much concern, it is the poor maintenance that has been harassing industrial consumers,” Ramneek Prabhakar, general secretary, Manufacturers’ Association, Faridabad, said.

The authorities needed to provide a system which was not affected by rain, heat and cold weather conditions, he added.

“Though the project of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) was launched in 2018 to improve the distribution system, it is yet to have any visible impact,” said Subhash Lamba, president, Sarva Karamchari Sangh, who claimed that the Power Department was faced with shortage of material and staff.

According to details available, against the sanctioned strength of 1,676 technical posts, the DHBVN here has only 312 regular employees. However, an official of the DHBVN claimed that the supply system had improved remarkably with the installation of new feeders and transformers in the circle.