Long power cuts in Delhi: Kejriwal seeks Modi's intervention

Ghaziabad, June 11: As the national Capital continued to reel under long power cuts, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to firmly deal with power companies and also restore subsidy on power bills.

Kejriwal, who sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss the issue, said Delhiites have been suffering long outages for the past several days. In his two-page letter, Kejriwal has requested Modi to restore subsidy on power bills initiated by the AAP government.

The AAP chief has also asked the Prime Minister to sternly deal with power companies by directing them to ensure that normal electricity supply is quickly in place in the national Capital.

"When I was the Chief Minister of Delhi, power companies used to blackmail me. But, when I warned them of cancelling their licenses if power cuts persisted, the attitude of these companies changed and they fell in line. I want to appeal to you (Modi)to deal with power companies strictly," he said.

The AAP chief also said that when his party was in power in January and February, there was a 24-hour power supply in Delhi, but for the last several days, Delhiites have been facing long power cuts which is making their lives difficult.

"The AAP-led government had provided subsidy on power bills to give relief to Delhiites. This subsidy continued till March 31 this year but the power tariff has now doubled. The UPA-led Government did nothing to give respite. Since your party is now in power, you (Modi) are expected to do something in this regard," Kejriwal said.

He noted that as per agreement between discoms and the Delhi government, it is their responsbility to provide 24-hour power supply daily to people.

"I along with my party MLAs want to meet you (Modi) on these issues. I would be very greatful if you give me 10 minutes for a meeting on such issues," Kejriwal said in his letter.

Kejriwal said there were apprehensions that the Government was trying to protect the power companies instead of acting against them. Yesterday, AAP MLAs had staged a protest outside Union Minister Harsh Vardhan's house in East Delhi, demanding urgent steps by the Centre to improve electricity supply in the city. Delhi has been reeling under long power cuts ranging from one to six hours for over a week after a devastating storm severely damaged major power transmission lines across the city.

PTI