Power minister calls meeting over Delhi electricity woes

New

, June 10: Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal Tuesday called an emergency meet with Delhi Lieutenant Governor

and officials over the prevailing electricity crisis amid the sweltering summer.

"I called an meeting with LG and Delhi's senior government officials to tackle the power crisis. Delhi's previous government has not put in an effort in electricity department. We are suffering because of the inaction of the previous government," Goyal told reporters.

There will be discussion on steps to be taken to tackle the power crisis, he added.

Demonstrations have taken place across the city, with residents in Seelampur protesting acute power supply shortage.

Najeeb Jung has ordered switching off street lights and turning off air conditioning in government offices.

With no respite from the heat, power outages last for several hours and irregular water supply in many localities have added to the woes of Delhiites.

On Monday, several Congress leaders held Delhi Chief Secretary S.K. Srivastava hostage for half-an-hour at the Delhi Secretariat over the crisis. The official was allowed to go only after he gave a written assurance promising to take remedial measures within a day but also noted that it will take close to 25 days to completely restore the power supply to normalcy.

IANS