The prevailing heatwave conditions and high humidity levels in the national Capital, giving a feel of temperatures hovering over 50 degrees Celsius, have not only pushed the peak power demand to an all-time high of 7,717 MW on Tuesday afternoon, but have also forced political parties to hold rallies in the evening to avoid the heat.
Most of the candidates have taken to indoor meetings during the morning and afternoon hours. However, the buzz around the elections on May 25 has been negligible during the day. Political parties are worried of low turnout of voters due to extreme heat and summer vacations in the national Capital.
With only two days remaining before the end of campaigning in Delhi, all parties are trying to woo voters with mega roadshows. The weather conditions, however, are leaving the candidates high and dry with a very limited period of time for campaigning only during the evening hours.
The intense heatwave is playing a spoiler for the rallies and roadshows of top political leaders cutting across party lines. The BJP and its star campaigners are holding rallies and roadshows in the evening. The AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, who is the star campaigner of his party, has also preferred to hold rallies and public gatherings in the evening.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal held a roadshow in support of Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar for North East Delhi in Bhajanpura at 8:00 pm. BJP president JP Nadda also held two roadshows in support of his party candidates -South Delhi's Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Chandni Chowk's Praveen Khandelwal in between 6:00 pm and 9:30 pm.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also held roadshows during the same time for BJP candidates — Yogendra Chandolia for reserved North West seat and Harshdeep Malhotra for East Delhi, to avoid the scorching heat.
Road Minister Nitin Gadkari also addressed three public meetings for BJP candidates which include West Delhi's Kamaljeet Sehrawat, New Delhi's Bansuri Swaraj and North east Delhi's Manoj Tiwari in the evening.
Likewise, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj SIngh Chouhan and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma have also held roadshows and addressed public gatherings in the national Capital.
In the past week, top leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal have organised rallies and roadshows in the national Capital in the evening hours to escape extreme heat.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the national Capital on Tuesday recorded the maximum temperature of 42.4 degrees Celsius, which is 2.2 degrees Celsius above the normal. The maximum temperature recorded in Najafgarh stood at 43.9 degrees Celsius, Lodi road at 41.4 degrees Celsius, Mungeshpur and Palam at 41 degrees Celsius, Narela and Pitampura at 41.9 degrees Celsius and New Delhi at 41.2 degrees Celsius.
The IMD has also issued a red alert for the next four days. The maximum humidity stood at 62 in the national Capital.
According to the seven-day forecast, the maximum temperature will be in the range of 44 to 47 degrees Celsius when Delhi goes to polls on May 25. A spell of intense heatwave, which has gripped the Capital, could impact voter turnout. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the voting percentage was 60.6 per cent. The mercury on May 12, 2019, was at 39 degrees Celsius. In the 2014 polls, the city saw a higher voting percentage of 65.1 per cent on April 10, 2014, when the day temperature was just 33 degrees Celsius.
According to the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Delhi real-time data, the peak demand of the city broke all previous records at 3:33 pm on Tuesday which was the highest ever in the history of the national Capital. This marks the fourth day in a row when the peak power demand crossed the 7,000 MW mark and broke the previous all time May high of 7,070 MW, recorded on May 19, 2022.
The highest peak power demand recorded in May last year was 6,916 MW, recorded on May 23. This pattern was also witnessed in April where the peak power demand was higher on 83 per cent of the corresponding days compared to April last year, with a difference of up to 32 per cent.
This disparity highlights the profound impact that weather can have on a city's power consumption patterns. In fact, air conditioning can contribute to 30 to 50 per cent of a household's or company's yearly energy expense.
According to SLDC data, Delhi's peak power demand during the summers of 2024 may cross 8,000 MW for the first time - reaching up to 8,200 MW. On their part, BRPL and BYPL successfully met the peak power demand of 3,404 MW and 1,728 MW in their respective areas. Tata Power-DDL on Tuesday has met this season's all-time high with a peak power demand of 2,225 MW, higher than last year's peak of 2,218 MW.
"It is estimated that the overall demand in Delhi will surpass 8000 MW this season, and in our area of operation, the peak demand is expected to reach a high of 2,350 MW. We have made sufficient arrangements of 2500 MW through advance power purchase agreements as well as long-term and short-term contingency arrangements to meet the growing demand," officials said.
