large parts of West Delhi and South Delhi, including Dwarka, Green Park and Saket, suffered long power outages on Thursday after a section of BSES contractual employees disrupted supply.
According to a representative of BSES employees union, an indefinite strike was called on Wednesday by a section of contractual employees. The contractual employees of the Reliance-backed discoms were demanding that they be regularized, prompting a stern warning from the Government.
The contractual staffers claimed to have had the support of Somnath Bharti, although the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker distanced himself from the strike, which has been termed “illegal” by the BSES. Representatives of the workers on strike met Bharti at his residence on Thursday. Following the meeting, Bharti said the strike has been called-off with immediate effect.
“Unfortunately, they used my name on the poster. This strike did not have my consent. Rather I was not even aware of it. I do not support the strike and it has been called off on my behest. The strike was absolutely uncalled for,” he said.
“We have received complaints of disruption and sabotage and the discoms have been asked to strongly deal with such elements. They will have to restore power at the earliest,” Delhi Power Minister Satyender Jain told reporters.
BSES’s Twitter helpline was flooded with complaints but the company’s standard reply was “Inconvenience regretted. Power demand is at an all-time high. Doing our best to restore interruptions.”
On Wednesday also, the striking employees had disrupted supply causing power outages. “An unrecognized union called a strike and illegal disruption of work today. We had informed Delhi Government about it. With active support from majority of our employees and the law enforcing authorities, we were fully geared up to meet any exigency. As a result, we were largely able to ensure smooth power supply to our 38 lakh consumers and their families. However, a few isolated pockets in west and south Delhi were affected for short durations,” a BSES spokesperson had responded.
Delhi’s power demand had touched a peak of 6,188 MW on May 20. Peak demand on Thursday was 5,879 MW recorded at around 3 pm.
A representative of the BSES employees union alleged that the workers tripped switches at many places and also damaged a transformer at Punjabi Bagh.
“The problem is that the discoms are exploiting these contractual employees for a long time. They are paid just Rs 10,000 despite the fact that they are engaged in hazardous work. I have taken up the issue with the power companies and the Government,” Bharti said.