Even though it rained on Thursday evening to the relief of Delhiites, the power demand of the city broke all records by reaching an all-time high of 5,653 MW. As the demand for electricity soared massively, several parts of the city faced outages making it difficult for Delhiites to bear the heat.
While the highest demand till now was 5,642 MW that was recorded on July 5, 2012, the same for this year was 5,315 MW that was recorded on May 27. "The striking feature is that this is the first time when Delhi's power demand has peaked early in the month of June. In the previous years, it has peaked only in July and August. The peak demand was met at 3.38 pm," said an official of the power department.
"If we see in a long-term perspective, then the reason for the annual rise in power demand is that Delhiites enjoy highest per capita power consumption of 1,651 units per annum, which is double the national average. People are buying more gadgets which operate on electricity. It is nothing, but a clear indication of prosperity," said the official.
A number of electric poles were uprooted in the Capital due to strong wind coupled with rains and storm resulting in disruption in power supply in many parts of the city. The disruption in power supply has affected the functioning of Nangloi water treatment plant. According to officials the power supply and water supply were partially affected. However, many parts of the city witnessed power cuts to the tune of four hours during the day time. Areas like laxmi Nagar, Mayur Vihar I, II and II, Ashok Nagar, Vasant Vihar, Rohini, Janakpuri, South Extension, Dwarka, Connaught Place and Tilak Nagar were the worst hit.